


She's A Little Troubled, A Little Dysfunctional. She's A Survivor

by Princess101855



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Family, Gen, Genderswap, Suspense
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-23
Updated: 2018-01-03
Packaged: 2018-04-23 01:41:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 63,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4858355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Princess101855/pseuds/Princess101855
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fem!Ezra. Ezra has lived on the streets since she was seven. Not easy for a child, let alone a girl. When the Ghost and its crew drops into her life one day, Ezra goes with them but will her past stop her from becoming a Jedi? And will she find her place with the Ghost and its crew? Quote by Aida Turturro.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Typical Day Turns into an Adventure

Ezra gritted her teeth as she felt a headache coming on from the vibrations. "What is going on now?" She grumbled. Swinging her legs over the bench she raced out to the balcony of her tower and watched as a star destroyer came in towards the city. She weighed her options. "Stay here and let other street rats get the goods and no chance of getting caught...or take the risk and get the goods." She made up her mind within seconds as she raced back into the tower. Grabbing her hat and tucking in her black hair (that shines blue in the sun), she grabbed her vibroknife and her small blaster hidden in her sleeve, replacing her leg guard, she hopped onto her speeder to go out to find her prize. Nothing is free in Lothal, she knew that and is getting more and more nervous as her birthday is coming up.

Getting off her speeder, she stowed it in her usual spot to hide it while having a pained look in her eyes as she left. Ezra climbed up onto the rooftops and ran across them until she finds something that catches her eye. Looking around while jumping, Ezra grinned when she saw a merchant getting harassed by some imperials.  _'Perfect_ ,' she thought. As the merchant was getting dragged away, she hopped off the roof and immediately changed her demeanor while hunching over and holding her hands out pitifully with wide blue eyes. She went between the two imperials with the bulky one eating one of the yogans while the other one had a sneer on his face.

"Spare some food?" She asked in a voice that people swore made her sound like a child.

"Move along Lothrat!" The imperial took a swipe at her and she ducked with taking the comm unit from the skinny imperial, clipped it to her belt while saying, "I'm not looking for any trouble."

"Get out of here Lothrat." The bigger one snarled as he stepped towards her. Ezra sneered under her grey tight fitting hat while scurrying away and ducking around the corner. ' _Too easy.'_ She thought as she watched the two Imperials just stand there. Clearing her throat, she took a deep breath and pitched her voice as low as it would go while imitating her father's accent from the Imperial center.

"All officers to the market square. We have a code red in the square. All units, we have a code red." She grinned as the ran out while the bulky officer threw down the basket onto the merchant. She repeated her message as she came up to the merchant. " _Copy that, we have reached the square and we are standing by."_ The voice on the comm. said.

"Thank you," he said, sounding grateful but snarled at her while she grabbed some bounty. Quickly grabbing some yogans before the merchant could say anything, she ran off while jumping back onto the roofs. "Girls gotta eat," she chuckled to herself.

She walked across the roof so she can get an overview of the market square. She licked her lips hungrily as she could feel the yogans weighing on her bag. She listened to the conversation between the officers with some amusement while shaking her head at their stupidity. When the one mentioned crates, Ezra's interest was peaked again and saw some crates getting attached to the speeders. She went through some plans in her mind and couldn't help but snort. "I almost feel bad for them," she muttered with a dark smile. "Almost." She was watching when she felt the vibration. Not the kind from the start destroyers, but from inside her. "That's weird," she murmured to herself and shot up when she felt it again.

Trusting these vibrations that had a small voice that she could never catch and her honed instincts has kept her alive this long on the streets without having to turn to more...unsavory ways to survive. When she was younger she got away with it as most gangs had no need for children other than as good pickpockets in exchange for food and one member took pity on her and told her what to look out for with other gangs and Imperials being the main ones. Of course, she thought they were being kind but then she found that nothing is free. She's been lucky so far since she can't get away with the 'innocent child waiting for a parent' act and because she looks like a boy (and therefore less of an obvious target), and wasn't overly curvy like her mother. When she hit her teenage years, she found an orange jumpsuit which she modified to hide her body and kept on dark pants underneath in case she had to ditch the suit quickly. Ezra was one of the more notorious Lothrats and she's only ever been caught once and that was something she wanted to go through again. If she  _ever_ meets that agent again...shaking those thoughts out of her head, she turned her head to where those vibrations are coming from and saw...a man. Ezra's shoulders slumped in disappointment at that, wanting something a bit more exciting.

He had a shoulder guard on his right shoulder with a blaster hanging from its holster at his wait and dark hair in a small ponytail facing away from her. Ezra was slightly confused. Why did the vibrations want her to notice him? Her eyes went wide when she saw him turning and quickly ducked beneath the lip of the buildings roof. She counted to ten before her head popped over the edge and watched as the strange man walked down the street towards her crates. She watched him stop and looked around before slapping his thigh twice. She saw two large bulbous eyes open from the shadows and couldn't help but shiver from the feeling she got from him. The alien left his shadows and Ezra saw just how large it was. The alien was only a few feet away from the man when he stopped and slapped his thigh again. A woman wearing a multi coloured helmet do the same thing. Ezra couldn't help but narrow her eyes.

"Oh no, you are  _not_ touching my crates." She hissed. But...she'll let them do her heavy lifting. The woman wearing the helmet casually tossed a small something onto the bike with a stormtrooper facing the other way. "Turn around you idiot." Ezra said in agitation, not liking what was tossed onto the bike. The trooper did but it was too late and the speeder exploded, engulfing the trooper in flames. Ezra flinched in sympathy, knowing how much those burns hurt. She quickly turned her attention to the officers who looked in shock at the destroyed speeder. ' _Don't look so shocked now.'_ Ezra thought sarcastically.

"Get those crates out of here!" An officer yelled. "And that's my que." Ezra grinned. She jumped a couple rooftops before stopping and watched as the man blocked the entrance while shooting at the stormtroopers. With reinforcements coming, Ezra jumped off the roof as she watched the purple alien bash in the troopers heads. She swung off a pole and landed on a speeder. Giving a cocky salute, she couldn't help but add, "thanks for doing the heavy lifting!" With that, she reversed the speeder and took off. She knocked over a trooper and took off down a side street. She heard the whine of speeders behind her and saw the two that tried to take her crates were after her. "Come on! Let me have a couple!" She whined. Her speeder shook when she saw the woman with the multi-coloured helmet on her crates. She tried to shake her off but to no avail. "Gutsy move kid!" Ezra bristled at being called kid. She shot the link keeping the two crates together and floated off.

"If the big guy catches you he'll end you! Good luck!" She called cheerfully. Ezra scoffed at that. That's when she noticed troopers coming. She flipped her wrist and her small silver blaster came to her hand and blasted two before seeing red lasers coming from behind her. The man that she took her crates back from is right behind her. "Who are these guys?" She growled before taking off down another side streets that's rarely used to get out of the city which misses the marketplace. She grinned at the fact that she lost them and weighed to take the main road which was fastest, or having to go and hide for hours on end and having the chance to being caught. "Why not?" She said to herself. She was a bit of an adrenaline junkie sometimes.

She sped out of the main gates and missed the troopers that were manning the gates until she heard blast fire coming from the speeders. "Blast it!" She swore. She looked at her options before she decided to take out the problems herself. She hit the breaks and felt the stop as she leaned over the handlebars and let go. She slumped backwards and fired upon the stormtroopers. She grinned as she sped farther from the city and was getting closer to her tower. Until she heard more speeders. "Karablast! You don't give up do you?" She asked rhetorically. The man just looked at her. "Hand over the crate!" She looked at him like he's crazy. "Not a chance in Hell!" She kept going until she saw a shadow and braked as hard as she could.

"Who the kriff are you?" She asked angrily.

"I'm the guy you stole those crates from."

"No…" Ezra said slowly. "These are  _my_ crates that you took from me."

"And you got pretty far." The guy said honestly. Ezra was about to retort when a TIE fighter came in.

"Gotta go!" She went around the other bike before she took off. She pushed the speeder farther when she saw a TIE fighter coming in faster. She completely forgot about the purple alien until she heard blaster fire. "Sithspit, get  _off_ me _!_ " Ezra yelled (she remembers her father cursing like that and she always liked that curse), then there was an urgent whistling in her ears and looked up. She swerved up and went into the other lane. She had a triumphant grin on her face as she pushed the speeder to its limit and raced into the fields towards the tower.

She heard the familiar whine of the TIE fighter who shot off a couple times with one of them hitting the speeder which jerked hard enough that Ezra went head over handle bars and landed hard. She choked on her breath before she could get her breath back. She stood up and saw the TIE fighter trained on her. She looked up, terrified when it exploded mid air. She shielded her eyes and when she looked up, the man was standing there. "You need a lift?" Ezra was about to retort when she saw half a dozen TIE fighters coming in. Not letting her bounty go to waste, she ignored the yells of "leave it!" and activated the anti gravity before running towards the ramp. "Let's see if I can get this high." Ezra angled the crate up and  _jumped._ She pushed the crate up and hung over the edge and looked down before grinning madly. "30 feet, new record!" She crowed before helping the man get her crate in the ship, missing his expression. She fell forward when the ship jerked.

Looking up, she saw the purple alien opening her crate revealing...blasters. Slightly disappointed that it wasn't food, she surged forward and saw what they were. Her eyes lit up at the thought of how much she can get for  _one,_ let alone a whole crate full. The man must've seen her look. "Don't get any ideas."

"They're mine though." Ezra said, her eyes darkening. She wasn't in the mood to fake being happy.

"If you haven't gotten in our way-" Ezra was mad now.  _She_ getting in  _their_ way?

"I got there first."

"It doesn't matter who gets there first. It's who has it last." The man said separating the two of them. Ezra backed away so he wouldn't touch her. She gave them all a glare. "Keep an eye on our friend here." With that, the man left. Ezra snarled slightly with the alien giving her a smug look. The alien and the woman (who won't take off her helmet), moved the crate against the wall and replaced the cover on it. Ezra just hopped up onto it. The two stared at her.

"What do you want me to say?" She demanded. "It's my crate and  _you_  stole it from  _me._  I don't take kindly from people doing a crash and bash on my stuff."

"You don't have an idea on what we do." The purple alien got in her face. She shifted backwards and slapped his hand away. "You don't know us."

"And why would I want to?" She asked. She was doing fine by herself and didn't need to deal with these people. "I just want off this burner." She said in frustration.

"Nothing would thrill me more and in flight." He got in her face. She snarled at him and turned away. The ship shook with Ezra losing her balance and the alien falling on her and would swear she heard her ribs cracked. "Get. OFF!" Ezra wheezed out. "Can't, breathe." She tried to use her arms to get herself up a bit so she can breathe.

"Not that heavy in this gravity."

"Not the weight. The smell." Ezra was done playing nice as soon as the alien got off her. The alien gave an offended look before getting angry.

"You don't like the air quality eh? Fine. I'll give you your own space." He grabbed her leg while ignoring her shouts of protest and shoved her in a small compartment that has a vent.

"You Pifgah!" She yelled. She heard it from one of the bars she was in and liked the word even though she has no idea what it means. She grabbed her small droid arm that doubled as her lock picker and flicked on the light and grinned when she saw an air vent. Quickly unscrewing the vent, she quietly put the vent back on and concentrated on the screws floating back up and screwing themselves back in. She shifted herself with her bag in front of her and floated her bag in front of her. It was one of her earliest tricks she discovered after her parents left and has been practicing it ever since.

" _Zeb, Sabine, where's the kid?"_ Came over the ship's speakers. ' _Just figured out I wasn't in sight?'_ Ezra thought sarcastically while taking in their names.

"Calm down chief, he's in here." ' _So they still think I'm a boy?'_ Ezra was smirking now.

" _Zeb. Where is he?"_

"Well, he's still in the ship." Ezra shuffled as silently as she could with her concentration faltering slightly, not used to having to float anything for this long and it dropped. ' _Sithspit.'_ she swore in her head.

"Oh yeah, he's in the ship alright." Ezra cursed in her head again and with a violent jerk, she fell through the panel. Smacking her head off something, she was seeing stars for a few seconds before realizing that she was in space. Her eyes lit up with seeing it up close for the first time and jumped when TIEs came from nowhere. "I am  _not_ dying during my first time in space." Shaking her head, she grabbed the gun joy sticks and quickly figured out where the triggers were. She started shooting and cheered when she got one.

She was tracking another one until she got thrown out of the seat. "Hey!" Sabine took off her helmet and revealed a girl not much older then herself with brown eyes and orange and blue hair, giving her a nasty look before putting her helmet up and sitting at the gun. "Yeah well kark on you." Ezra muttered rebelliously. Trying to get rid of the awkwardness, Ezra popped back up. "My names Ezra." She felt her collar being grabbed and nearly punch the alien in the face. "And my names Zeb you Lothrat." ' _Well thank you for throwing that back in my face.'_ Ezra thought. She knew what she was and didn't need people telling her that every hour.

" _Calculations complete but I need an opening."_ A voice over the intercom said.

"Found one!" Sabine said and shot at the TIE before it exploded.

" _Entering hyperspace."_  Ezra was excited until she realized that they were leaving Lothal.

' _He is NOT going to be happy.'_


	2. Adventure turns into Trouble

"Let go!" Ezra struggled as Zeb refused to let go of her arm, dragging her from the gun torrent to the cockpit and saw that a twi'lek was manning the ship. "Take me back to Lothal." She demanded.  _'Or else Vizago will have my hide.'_ she thought miserably.

"Calm down, that's exactly what we're doing." The pilot said. Ezra could help but blurt out. "But those Imperial fighters behind us!"

"The  _Ghost_ can scramble its signature. They won't recognize us when we return." Ezra let out a breath of relief. She tipped her nose into the air. "Good. Then you can drop me and those blasters off at Capital City."  _'And hope that these will pacify Vizago or else I'm dead.'_

"They're not your blasters." Sabine said coming in.

"So you  _do_ talked." Ezra snarked. She wasn't in a 'play nice' mood right now.

"And we're not going back to Capital City."

"What?" Ezra said in outrage.

"The job's not done." Ezra wanted to throw a tantrum. Instead, she just let it simmer.

She heard the man call the pilot Hera and Sabine call the man Kanan.  _'At least I have names,'_ she thought as she stormed out and went back down to the cargo hold and climbed back onto a crate and drew her legs up, dropping her head on her knees. Taking deep breaths, Ezra sorted out her chaotic emotions and closed her eyes to calm down. Having volatile emotions was never a good thing and Ezra's emotions were never stable after her parents left her. A part of her hates her parents for leaving her while a smaller part was cheering them on for going against the Empire, but her more cynical side usually squishes that pretty fast. She sat there for a small while until everyone came down when the ship landed. When the ramp lowered, Ezra could only see fields until she looked down and saw a small village in the middle of nowhere. Noticing that Kanan and Hera were going in a different direction, Ezra couldn't help but point it out.

"If I told you I'd have to kill you. I just might anyway."

"Grab a crate and pull your weight." Sabine snapped as Ezra watched as the two older adults left with her blaster crate. Ezra grabbed a crate in silence and followed Zeb and Sabine down to the village. Ezra could see and feel in everyone's expressions that they feel no hope. Only acceptance and weariness.

"What is this place?" Ezra asked.

"Locals call it Tarkintown."

"After Grand Moff Tarkin. Governor of the Outer Rim. He kicked all these folks off their land when the Empire wanted it." Sabine finished.

"Anyone who tried to stop him got arrested for treason." Zeb said. Ezra grimaced, all too familiar with that sentencing. "Who wants some free grub?" Zeb called out. Everyone crowded the three crates.

Ezra couldn't help but think,  _'I grabbed the wrong crate.'_ She was startled when a rodarian put a hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you, thank you."

"I didn't  _do_ anything though." She muttered in confusion. Looking over, she could see that Zeb and Sabine have the food under control so she went to explore. Not believing that these people couldn't work this land (she's seen the fields so growing food can be an option), she walked to the edge and went into her pocket and grabbed a couple of precious seeds. She couldn't do anything with them herself but she can get a very good price when she does sell them. Not noticing the crowd around her, Ezra worked on her small project for a while before getting up and looked satisfied. It was then she noticed the small crowd. "What were you doing?" Ezra grinned, happy to share the information she got from a pilot. "Have you ever heard of Usa'lairdat?"

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Kanan and Hera were staring at Vizago to give up the intel on the Wookies. "And how do we know you're not lying?" Kanan asked, crossing his arms. Vizago shrugged. "Business is business. It's no good to get you killed no is it?" Hera and Kanan looked at each other before they walked away.

"You also wouldn't happen to know where one of my girls went would you?" Vizago called to them. Kanan gave Vizago a dirty look at that.

"No, we don't."

"Shame cause she was one of my best dancers." Hera and Kanan quickly left after that.

"Whoever it is I hope she's alright." Hera said. It's not easy breaking away from that type of life. Kanan just shrugged.

"It's not our problem though. What we need to concentrate on is freeing those Wookies."

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Ezra went back to the ship and sat on a small container out in the field staring out into Tarkintown. She couldn't help but wonder who these people were. Sure they stole stuff but they also gave back to others. She couldn't help but feel mad because these people have a means of making a living out of the land while Lothrats like herself and other children aren't so lucky and are usually ignored, unless they're getting blamed for something or just brushed off. Standing in agitation, Ezra felt the voiceless voice again coming from the ship. Turning her head, it seemed to have gotten stronger. Going up the ramp, she followed the 'voice' until she came to a locked door.  _'Like that'll stop me,'_ she thought, taking off her bag and rummaging through it for her lock picker. She froze when she heard whistling and whipped her head around and saw an orange blur. Shaking her head, she turned her attention back on the lock and grinned when it opened.

Going inside, she couldn't help but notice how bare the room is, almost like its not lived in. She sat down on the bed, frowning. "Ok, I'm here." Her fingertips felt a small bump. "Hello, what do we have here?" She got off the bed and pried the small compartment open and saw two items.

One was a large cube that fit in her hand and she put under her jumpsuit and what looked like… "a lightsaber," Ezra breathed. She's heard stories about them from her father but she's never seen one. She couldn't help but feel a pull towards it and decided to activate it. A long blue blade erupted from the sheath and she had a look of awe on her face, lighting up her blue eyes in childlike wonder she hasn't had since she was a child. Giving it a few waves, she froze when the door opened.

"Careful." She turned around slowly. Kanan was standing in the doorway with a cold expression on his face. "Put that down before you cut your arm off."

"I know you won't believe me but...it felt like...it was  _calling_ me." Ezra explained lamely. Kanan's face didn't twitch, making Ezra want to squirm like she was about to be scolded by her father.

"You're right, I  _don't_ believe you. Now hand me the lightsaber." Deciding to play dumb, her eyes went wide as she exclaimed, "lightsaber, isn't that the weapon of a  _jedi?_ " She put emphasis on jedi to see if she could get any reaction from him. "Give it to me, and get out." He said coldly. She deactivated the lightsaber and handed it back to him, who took the lightsaber and disassembled it and put the two pieces on separate hooks on him belt. As soon as Ezra was around the corner, she started wandering around and came across Sabine drinking caf.

"Not too good at following directions are you?" Ezra just looked at her.

"Not really." It all depended on who gave them. "You?" Sabine snorted quietly.

"Never been my specialty." Ezra was quiet for a few minutes. Swallowing her pride, she said, "sorry for snapping at you. Hasn't been the best of days."

"I bet."

"Who are you anyway?" The question has been bothering her for a while. "I mean, you're not thieves exactly."

"We're not exactly anything." Sabine replied. "We're a crew, and in some ways, a family." At family, Ezra turned away, feeling the familiar feeling of hollowness in her chest.

Sabine noticed her look and put the pieces together. "What happened to yours?" Ezra asked.

"The Empire." Sabine bit out with venom. "What about yours?" Ezra didn't get to answer when Zeb came in with Chopper.

"Kanan wants us in the common room. If he tries anything, sound the alarm. Or shoot him." Chopper argued back but was shushed by Zeb who gave Ezra a look. Sabine left with Zeb. Sabine stopped at the door.

"My name's Sabine." Ezra had to bite her tongue to say that she already knew that. When the door closed, Chopper rammed into her.

"What's your problem?" She asked. Taking off her hat, she quickly fixed her hair so her braid wrapped around her head and put it back on. Chopper talked again. Ezra didn't know very much binary but she could tell that Chopper was surprised. "Say anything and I'll tear you apart before anyone realizes it," she hissed. Wondering what was going on (and ignoring Chopper's squawks of outrage), Ezra looked around the room and smirked when she found the air vents. "Perfect." Using her screwdriver, she unscrewed the vent and climbed in, thankful for her small frame. Climbing through the vent quietly, she stopped where she could hear the voices.

"-ookies were soldiers for the old Republic."

"I owe those hairy beast. They saved some of my people." Zeb said.

"Mine too."

"If we're going to save them we've got a tight window." Were they talking about wookies? Ezra struggled to remember if her father made any mention of them but came up blank.

"-cept this ship, we'll never find them. Now I have a plan on how to get on board but-" Kanan stopped talking. He looked up and with a sigh, he looked at Hera slightly apologetically and pulled the panel down, dropping the dark haired teenager onto the floor.

"Um...hi?" She said awkwardly while trying to get the dust off her jumpsuit. Zeb grabbed her ankle before she could flee.

"I ordered Chopper to keep an eye on you!" Chopper came into the room, waving his robotic appendages around while defending himself and was outraged. Ezra found herself backing up when she found Zeb standing on top of her. "Can we  _please_ get rid of him?" He demanded through clenched teeth.

"No we can't." Ezra gave Sabine a grateful look. "He knows too much." Grateful look gone with it replaced with a glare instead.

"We don't have time to take him back anyway." Hera helped Ezra up and was surprised on how small the boy's hands were. Walking Ezra away Hera said, " _I'll_ keep an eye on him." Ezra just sighed in defeat and climbed into the cockpit with Hera right behind her. She sat down in the co-pilot chair and was very uncomfortable and was fidgeting in it. When Hera sat down, she just had to say what's been bothering her.

"This whole thing is crazy. I'm not against sticking it to the Empire (She knows she's done it tons of times), but I wouldn't stick my neck out this far for anyone. Who does that?" She learned that the hard way when she was ten and her trust became almost non-existent, except for one person.

"We do." Hera replied. Ezra was stumped as to why they would. What's the point? They came out of hyperspace and a transport ship with some TIEs attached to it was the first thing that drew Ezra's eye. "Imperial transport ship 651, this is  _Starbird."_ Ezra was amazed at how cold Hera's voice went.

_"We copy. What's your business?"_

"Bounty. We captured an additional wookie prisoner and have orders to place it with you." Hera replied. Ezra stayed quiet and watched as Hera worked. She noticed that Hera referred to the wookie as an it and not as if it was a living being.

 _"We have no such orders."_  Two TIEs were released and Ezra couldn't help but feel nervous.

"That's fine." Ezra could hear the shrug in Hera's voice. "We've already been paid. By Governor Tarkin. If you don't want the oversize mona then fine. I'll jetason here and let you explain to your superiors why the Empire has one less slave." There was silence as the TIEs kept following the  _Ghost._ Ezra was getting antsy when,  _"permission to dock. Bay one."_  Hera had a grin on her face and Ezra was just relieved that she wasn't going to be blown up. "Now all we have to do is wait." Ezra sighed and leaned in her seat as Kanan's voice come over the comm.

 _"Ok, you no the plan. No troopers and security's sof-"_  Static filled the air.

"Spectre one come in. Spectre four, spectre five." No answer. "Comms down." She said in frustration. "No, not down…jammed." Ezra had a bad feeling about all of this as the hair on the back of her neck rose.

"Something's coming," Ezra whispered. Her eyes darted around and a star destroyer came out of hyperspace. Her eyes widened at the implication. "This whole thing was a set up." Ezra said in realization.

"It's beginning to look that way," Hera muttered as she tried to raised the rest of the crew on their comms. A feeling came over her that she hasn't felt since…her eyes widened and her knuckles went white.

"You need to board and warn them Ezra." Ezra swirved in her seat. "Me? Why not you?" She demanded.

"Because I'm needed here to be ready to take off or none of us stands a chance."  _'We don't stand a chance now,'_ Ezra thought as the ship got closer.

"No. Why would I risk  _my_ life for a bunch of strangers?" Ezra's mind took her back to the one and only promise she's made since being on the streets and the innocent face that filled her mind. She cut Hera off harshly. "I'm not doing it for you or anyone here, or for the sake of being good." She cursed the fact she made the promise years ago.

"Then why are you doing it?" Hera called to her. Ezra stopped.

"A promise I made."

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Ezra took off running down the halls, trying to find Kanan and the others. She followed her feet that seemed to know where she needs to go. She could hear Zeb.

"It's a trap!" She called. "We need to get out of here!" Her eyes darted around, looking for stormtroopers. Kanan and Zeb were startled when they heard Ezra's voice with Kanan pointing his blaster at her.

"Karablast!" Zeb swore. "Now the kid is blowing  _another_ op!"

"I'm not blowing it! Hera sent me. There's a star destroyer here too." The sliding doors opened revealing stormtroopers.

"Run!" She said while grabbing her small blaster and firing it at the troops. "We need to warn Sabine and Chopper!" She actually liked Chopper. He isn't just a droid, but also has a bit of attitude which makes him seem more alive.

"They'll follow the plan." Kanan said. Ezra scoffs in her head.  _'The plan is already blown.'_ She thought.

"Because the plan has already gone great so far." She snapped back. They kept running until the feeling of weightlessness took hold, making Ezra freeze in fear and seeing troopers in their way. She tried making her way by following Kanan who was blasting the troops when Zeb pushed her behind.

Kallus looked up and froze.

 _"You."_ Ezra nearly squeaked in fear but grabbed Zeb's foot and hung on when he tried to kick her off. She climbed up onto him and let him do the work since she has no idea how to work without gravity. Zeb finally pushed her off.

"Doing ok kid?" Ezra stared.

"Are you  _kidding_ me?" What kind of question is that? The gravity came back on and she dropped. Quickly getting up, she followed Kanan who was talking with Sabine with Chopper by her feet. She followed Kanan when Zeb pushed her backwards.

"You bloody-" the rest of her curse was cut off when she got grabbed from behind. Struggling against the choke hold which was getting tighter, she clawed at the arm to give her breathing air as spots started appearing in her vision.

"Give me a stun gun." Kallus said as Ezra was getting harder to hold. One of the troops gave it to him and was about to shoot when Zeb said, "You did great kid."

Zeb saw the betrayal in her eyes before she got shot and dropped to the floor when he shut the door and slid to the floor.


	3. Trouble Turns into a Choice

Ezra couldn't help but let out a small squeak when she got thrown in her cell. Baring her teeth, she scrambled around and was crouched on the balls of her feet facing the door. The two troopers walked out and locked her in before she reached the door and banged on it. "Karablast!" She swore as she smacked the door again in frustration. "Think Ezra, how did you get out last time?" She didn't have long to think when the door opened again. She grabbed her knife (not trusting her blaster pistol in case the bolt bounces around), and had it in her hand, tightening her grip on it when she looked up. When she saw who was standing at the top her back was immediately against the wall. Agent Kallus with two bucketheads. The one who made her life a living hell the last time she got caught. He had a small look of surprise on his face when he saw who was in the cell.

"Miss Ezra Bridger. I was wondering if I'd ever see you again."

"The honour's all mine." She replied sarcastically. "I didn't do anything wrong this time so let me out." He gave her a once over.

"Possibly. But your associates on the other hand stole the Empire's property." Ezra held her tongue for a retort that would get her into trouble. Kallus had a thoughtful look on his face and looked at the knife that jumped into her hand. "That jumpsuit of yours gave me trouble last time and I know you're hiding a blaster pistol in there. Hold her." Ezra immediately started struggling when the two bucketheads grabbed her arms. She would kick them but doubted that would go over well. She tried twisting her arms but the storm troopers held a tight grip and hoisted her arms up, making her grunt in pain. She looked up and reared back when Kallus was almost nose to nose with her. "You want to do this the easy way or the hard way this time?" She spat in his face. Without his expression changing, he grabbed her jumpsuit and tore it open, revealing a tight black shirt underneath. He systematically took off her suit without anymore damage to it, which was amazing in itself with how much Ezra was struggling.

He grinned when he saw her murderous expression which in his mind made her more desirable. He traced the side of her face with a tenderness that had her looking at Kallus in disgust. He pulled in close and Ezra could feel his heated breath on her ear. "Now why would you be travelling with these rebel scum?" Ezra raised an eyebrow.

"Circumstances really and I doubt they'll come for me. I'm just a Lothrat, remember?" Kallus does remember and also remembers telling her that. "Then you have nothing to worry about." He heard her scoff but ignored it as he looked at her. Last time he really saw her was when she was ten and has done a lot of growing up since then. Her hair was braided around the crown of her head giving her an almost regal look with her bright blue eyes staring at him with anger. He felt his lust levels spike as he looked her over. Ezra felt like she was being examined and really didn't like how Kallus' eyes were roaming over her. He had a look in his eyes when he stared into her bright blue ones that left a cold feeling going down her spine. Grabbing her face roughly, he kissed her with Ezra struggling to get him off before biting his tongue. He reared back from her and had a savage look on his face, but didn't say anything as he turned to leave. He stopped when he got to the top of the cell and gave her an unreadable expression before gesturing to the two troopers to unhand her and they grabbed everything that was lying in the cell, including her bag.

She dropped to the ground while looking up and glaring at him. He had his blaster trained on her until he left. The only thing that kept Ezra from being plunged into total darkness was the small wall lights lighting up the cell. She rubbed her shoulders from the abuse they got and couldn't help but shiver from the feeling of Kallus touching her and curled up. Her jumpsuit was like her armour that kept her safe. She was almost never without it unless she was doing something for Vizago that is. She looked at the cube in disgust since it was the only thing she managed to save. Tossing it to the floor she closed her eyes and rested her head on her knees. She stayed like that until she heard the clicking and saw the blue hue of light under her eyelids.

"This is Master Obi-Wan Kenobi." Ezra's head shot up, remember the name from the stories her father told her. "I regret to inform you that both our jedi order and the republic, have fallen. With the dark shadow of the empire rising to take its place. This message is a warning and a reminder to all surviving jedi; trust in the force."

"No no no no no! I'm going crazy!" Ezra clutched her head in despair at all of this. She breathed slowly while trying to think of a way out of this. Without her suit that had some extra tools, she has nothing to work with. Only...her head shot up and was berating herself for forgetting the trick she was taught, one that gave poor young children a chance to beg off food from the sympathetic. It might work here. Taking a deep breath, she started yelling. "Hey, bucketheads! You better let me out of here! My uncle-" on and on she went while her claims got more ridiculous, trying to get them to open the cell door before going to part two. "-my uncle the Emperor," she started coughing uncontrollably. Or, that's what it sounded like. Hearing the door open, she sped past the two guards and flipped off a cocky smile.

"Thanks guys!" And promptly locked the door behind her. Following her feelings to find her stuff, she found them tucked away in a corner in the armoury. "Really?" She said dryly. Looking around, she grabbed a helmet and grinned when she noticed that the transmitter was still on.

"-Kessel spice mine."  _'So that's where the wookies are going.'_ Ezra thought. She took it off after hearing what she needed to and quickly tugged her jumpsuit and hat back on, relieved to have the familiar weight back on. Putting the helmet back on, she was zipping her suit back on when she heard about the security breach. "They came back." She breathed. No one has  _ever_ done that for her before and was a new feeling for her. Looking around, she grinned under the helmet and hopped up onto the crates and into the air vent. Crawling through them always did give her a rush of excitement.

Adrenaline filling her veins, she crawled through the vents, knowing that her voice was still scratched from all the yelling she did. Pitching it as low as she can get it, she got a couple of the squads diverted, but not as many as she hoped. She kept crawling before one of the panels gave out on her. Giving a shout of surprise, she froze when Kallus and some troopers were in front of her, blocking her exit. She took off the helmet threw it at him, stunning him long enough for her to scramble up and run while she grabbed her small blaster from her sleeve. Green plasma mixed with red as she ran with her mind was going a mile a minute while thinking how to get past them as more reinforcements were on their way. She didn't have enough room for her favourite somersault trick but maybe...she quickly ran towards them while dodging their shots and flipped over their heads like a corkscrew. Her landing was a little off but it served her purpose while scrambling up and running.

Kanan and Sabine came across a small firefight as the other stormtrooper fell to Ezra's blaster.

"Move!" She snapped while taking another shot at Kallus who dodged it. The three ran until they met up with Zeb who left with them to the  _Ghost._

"Spectre one to Ghost. We're leaving!" Kanan said through the comm while dodging fire from the trooper's blasters. When Ezra climbed onto the ramp, she stopped and trained her blaster on Kallus until she got jerked back.

"You get on first!" Ezra didn't give any retort as she climbed aboard the vessel.

"Ghost, raise the ramp!" Ezra trained her blaster on Kallus and fired, only to have missed by grazing the side of his head.

Kallus gave the dark haired teenager an angry look as the ramp was raised.

Ezra quickly left to the cockpit to see Hera, the only one that she knew that would actually be glad to see her. Hera slumped in exhaustion on her seat as they were finally safe in hyperspace when Ezra opened the door and had an uncertain look on her face.

"Welcome aboard, again." Ezra went further in and sat down on the chair while wincing in pain. She didn't notice before but she was pretty sure that she'll have a wicked bruise on her by morning.

"Thank you." She said quietly. "I didn't think you'd come back for me."

"We'll get you home. I'm sure your parents must be worried." Ezra's eyes grew cold. "I don't have any parents." She said. She's already cried over them enough. "Besides, you have somewhere else to go." The doors opened behind her with Kanan, Sabine and Chopper coming in, all ignoring her. "I know where they're really taking the wookies. Have you ever heard of the Kessel spice mines?" Ezra said slowly, trying to get the pronunciation right. Everyone looked at each other. Sabine turned around.

"Slaves sent there last a few months, maybe a year."

"And for wookies raised in the forest, it's a death sentence." Ezra couldn't help it.

"I guess we better get going."

"We?" Sabine said as everyone stared at her like she has three heads. Ezra shrugged. "Come this far." It was always one of her rules on the streets. Always finish a job, no matter how dangerous. It always guaranteed future jobs.

"Setting course for Kessel." Hera said cheerfully. Kanan gave her a look like she was being tested.

Ezra filed that away. There was also no way that he wouldn't of noticed the missing cube...a test?! She narrowed her eyes slightly at him for that.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Ezra felt like she only had the job because Hera refused to let Chopper off the  _Ghost._ Picking locks and climbing through vents were her specialties but it doesn't mean that she  _wants_ to do it all the time! Hearing the stormtroopers getting blasted down made Ezra grin inside until she felt a push. "Try not to get dead. Don't want to carry your body out." Ezra glared at Zeb for that and focused ahead. She clenched and unclenched her hand several times trying to calm her nerves.

When the ramp opened everyone jumped out and ran for the crates for cover. She looked at Kanan who nodded to her. She took off running as everyone else distracted the bucketheads. She would blast them but her blaster gave out green plasma so it would be a dead giveaway as she was trying to sneak past them. Getting to the wookies, Ezra didn't realize just how big they were. One of the wookies advanced towards her.

"Hey! I'm here to help." Grabbing her droid arm that doubled as her lock picker, Ezra quickly undid several binders before those wookies went off the help Kanan and the others. She undid more before blaster fire had her flying through the air. Dazed for a few seconds, she watched as Agent Kallus (Ezra had to give him credits for being persistent), come down with more troops. One of the wookies howled which had Ezra looking and saw a child wookie being chased by a stormtrooper. She and Zeb helped the parent that was shot by the trooper.

"He'll be ok." Ezra helped Zeb get the wookie to behind the crates and saw a child wookie being chased by a stormtrooper. "Not again. Not while I'm still breathing," she hissed and took off after the child, ignoring Zeb and Kanan's shouts to stop.

She chased the wookie child and the trooper to a landing platform. She caught up to them and decided to get his attention on her. "Hey! Buckethead!" She crouched and right when she was blasted at, she did a twenty foot somersault through the air and landed on the other side before grabbing her blaster and shooting the trooper. She turned and smiled at the wookie child who was looking up at her with fear in his eyes.

"Don't be afraid." She said in a softer voice. She gently held up his paws before unlocking the binders. She immediately dragged the wookie to the ground when she felt her voiceless voice screaming at her to drop. Blaster fire went right over her head and had her blaster trained on Kallus.

"I would never have thought that Ezra Bridger, Lothal's infamous Lothrat would be a Force sensitive and working with rebels."

"I have no ideas where you get your delusions from Kallus. I work along, remember?"

"Yes, I do. After all, your friends left you do die last time I saw you. But now you have a master jedi for your training." Ezra snorted.

"Right." She had her blaster trained on Kallus with the wookie behind her when engine sounds came from the side and Kanan was wielding a lightsaber. Kallus immediately started firing on Kanan, leaving Ezra with the wookie. She was about to take a shot when the child tugged on her sleeve. Looking down, she heard the shout and watched as Kallus went over the edge.

"Jump kid!" Taking a leap of faith, Ezra jumped over the railing and onto the ship along with the wookie. Kanan looked over at the dead stormtrooper and said nothing as he went back inside. Going inside, she looked over the cargo bay where the other wookies were with the child one howling in happiness that the parent responded to.

Ezra flinched when Kanan put a hand on her shoulder and left to go to the cargo bay. She turned away slightly, with the memories the reunion was bringing up and her own bitter past. Going down, the wookie child latched onto her.

"His name is Kitwar." Sabine supplied. Ezra nodded and looked at the other wookies. "We'll be getting a transport ship for them in a couple hours." Hera said. Ezra nodded absentmindedly while focusing on Kitwar. Taking the approach she took with Amara, she started walking away with Kitmar, telling the same stories Amara loved.

Hera looked at the two with a small smile while Kanan had a small frown on his face. "What's wrong love?" Kanan looked at her. "Nothing. Just need to think for a while." Hera nodded and went back to the wookies, leaving Kanan deep in his thoughts.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

"Ezra, bring Kitwar back, transport's here." Ezra looked up then at Kitwar.

"I guess this is where we part then." She said in a fake, cheery voice. Kitwar had on a sad face before Ezra guided him down towards the docking bay. The parent wookie said something that Sabine translated.

"He says if we ever need help, the wookies will come." Ezra was just looking at Kitwar with a genuine smile. A small one, but one nevertheless. "Try to stay out of trouble Kitwar." Ezra said fondly. The wookie child grew on her a bit in the few hours she knew him. He had an innocence Ezra hasn't seen in a long time.

"Looks who's talkin'." Ezra brushed the comment off.

"So, I guess we go drop me off then." Ezra doesn't know when it happened or how, but she was reluctant to leave the crew. They reminded her of the family she lost long ago and she wanted that feeling back. Zeb locked the door. "Yeah, finally right?" He said with a nervous chuckle. Ezra turned so no one could see her expression.

"Right." She said in a hard voice. Back to living on the streets, doing Vizago favours and getting some in return while paying off his debt (she hasn't called any of her precious few favours in yet, but has a feeling she will be very soon). She leaned against the ladder with a troubled expression and nearly fell on Kanan when the wookie ship detached. Grabbing the two lightsaber parts, she quietly apologized for falling into him. When he left, she reassembled it with a small grin.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

When they landed on Lothal, Ezra went into the cargo bay and saw Sabine fixing Chopper and Zeb getting a crate top back on. Chopper waved his mechanical arm and gave a sad beep. She went up to Zeb.

"So I guess I'll see you around?" Ezra asked. She wasn't sure if she wanted to or not. Zeb laughed and punched her lightly in the shoulder.

"Not if we don't see you first."

"Don't worry, you won't." She said harshly, missing Zeb's confused expression. Climbing down the ramp, she saw Hera and Kanan standing in the grass.

"I believe you have something that belongs to me?" The cube. It her like a rock. He was testing her. She tossed him the cube while saying in passing, "you need better hiding spots  _jedi._ " She walked off while his lightsaber was still in her bag. "Good luck saving the galaxy." She threw behind her and ran off.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

She climbed into her tower while staring at the lightsaber with a sigh. Mentally making a list of things to do (biggest one is to find Vizago and go on her knees and beg for forgiveness), she felt him, rather than see him. "What's the Force?" She asked. "It's what holds the galaxy together. It binds us, penetrates us. And it's strong in you Ezra. Otherwise you would never have been able to open the holocron." That sneaky son of a bantha. She turned around with hard eyes.

"What do you want then?" She asked coldly.

"To offer you a choice." Now she was listening. "You can keep the lightsaber you stole and let it become just another dusty souvenir, or you can give it back and come with us, come with  _me_ and I'll train you in the ways of the Force and learn what it truly means to be a jedi." Ezra mulled this over.

"I thought the Empire wiped out all the jedi?"  _You know the answer._ A small voice in her head said. "Not all of us." She looked down and when she looked back up, he was gone. Sitting down, she thought about her choices. Stay here and stay Vizago's part time dancer while running the occasional errand to him to pay off her debt, or leave and be train, and possibly,  _possibly,_ get the feeling of family back again. She remembered what her father would tell her, about the jedi and how they were peacekeepers and warriors. She didn't notice it then, but he had a secretive gleam in his eyes whenever he would mention the jedi. Ezra never thought on it but now...now was her chance to find out more. More about herself and her past. Making up her mind, she grabbed her essentials and raced out of the tower and made her way back to the  _Ghost._


	4. One Chapter of Life Done

Kanan will admit that he was slightly worried when Ezra didn't show up for the first hour as he stood on the ramp of the  _Ghost_.

"Everything will be fine love," Hera said.

"I'm just worried. That blaster…I've only ever seen that model once and that was on a bounty hunter. It's also worrying how easily he can take a life and not be bothered." Hera looked at Kanan. "Don't push for answers. The more you push, the farther he backs up and when he's against the wall he'll lash out." Hera got up to leave for the cockpit. Kanan looked out into the fields one last time before going back to his room to meditate.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Ezra ran as fast as she could back to the  _Ghost._ Most people would say she's insane but that's how she works. With insanity as her many run in's with Imperials will testify. After double checking that both blasters were accounted for (she only ever uses her Q2 pistol when needed with the limited number of shots she has on it, and her ELG 3A for emergencies when she needs the fire power), and her clothes, Ezra left her Tower and left everything else in their hiding spots (double checking that her mother's jewelry has no chance of being discovered by whoever can actually get in), before locking the tower down. Making sure her hat was on her head, she left to go find Kanan. She had a suspicion that he would be in his room so she headed in that direction.

She went to open the door, but the 'voice' ( _Force_  she thought to herself), told her to wait a minute before opening. She waited and opened the door. She saw Kanan with his legs crossed, eyes closed on the bed. He opened them and looked at her. Kanan got off the bed and went over to her. Ezra didn't really notice that he was a good head taller than her with her head barely reaching his collarbone. She reached into her bag and slowly held out his lightsaber towards him. Kanan placed a hand on her shoulder which made her want to squirm in discomfort until he dropped his hand.

"Come. Let's go to the kitchen." Ezra followed him, confused but she still followed him.

Sabine was in the kitchen nursing a mug of what looked like caf. She looked over and saw the older jedi and the stowaway.

"Well?" Sabine asked.

"Ezra's staying." Sabine just nodded and went back to her drink. Not taking any offence to it, Ezra sat down and grabbed her two blasters, wanting to see if there was any damage and see how much plasma her Q2 has left. She didn't notice Sabine's eyes widen when Ezra grabbed both and checked the chambers.

"Where did you get these?" Sabine asked in excitement as she looked over the blasters. Ezra shrugged, feeling uncomfortable.

"Blackmarket."

"But these must have cost almost 1,000 credits!"

"I have my ways." She got the blasters only because of a favour she did and hopes she never has to do it again for that slime ball. Sabine looked like she wanted to pet them. Ezra placed them back in her bag before hoisting it up on her shoulder. "So where am I sleeping?" She asked.

"With Zeb."

"You can't be serious!" Ezra cried. "That shunfa almost got me killed!" She snapped. Kanan looked like he wanted to tell her off for her language but instead breathed heavily through his nose.

"His room is the only one with a spare bunk. You're going to have to live with it if you want to be here." Ezra gritted her teeth.

"Fine." She said through clenched teeth. "Where is it?" Kanan showed her where Zeb's room is (right across from Sabine's) and she tossed her bag on the top bunk and looked at Kanan. "I'm going to be outside around the ship." Kanan made no move to stop her. She ran outside and around to the back where she jumped through the air and twisted in frustration. She finds that exhausting herself was a good way to get rid of her frustration that was building and needed to get rid of the energy or else something might happen and she doesn't want to explain the awkward situation.

She flipped onto the top of the  _Ghost_ and sat down admiring the view she got of Lothal's sunset. She hummed the old song her mother used to but can't remember the words. It never failed to calm her down. She knows that she's being cold to everyone, but she can't let anyone in, not again. If she loses one more person then her soul will shatter beyond repair. The only reason why she's not yet broken is because of some hard earned truths and turning her heart to ice and not letting anyone in and seeing her true self. There are very few people who know the real her and Ezra isn't sure if she's one of them anymore. Living on the streets leaves you jaded, hard and if you're a girl, then you become a target of opportunity which made it critical for Ezra to turn herself hard to her way of life. But maybe, just maybe, she can open up to these people in time. Until then, it's Ezra the one who could melt Hoth with how cold she can be.

Sitting there for a while, Ezra sighed and got down. She knows she's being slightly irrational but Zeb pushed her which got her caught. She's allowed to hold a bit of a grudge for now. Walking back into the cargo bay, Ezra looked and saw Chopper there, beeping and waving his arms around.

"Hi Chopper." Chopper said something too fast for her to catch. "Sorry Chopper. Could you say that a bit slower?" Ezra said apologetically. Her response was an electric shock. She jumped and stared at Chopper.

"CHOPPER!" She roared and chased him around the ship, not stopping when she past everyone, intent on making Chopper scrap metal.

"Ezra." Ezra stopped cold when Hera called her.

"Yes?" She asked with a slightly pained expression on her face.

"Have you eaten anything?" Now that she thought about it, she hasn't had anything since before her yogan run…that she still had in her bag.

"No…" She said slowly before running back to the room with her bag in it. Her mouth watered when she saw the fruit. Snatching one out, she closed the bag and walked back to Hera and started munching on it while raising an eyebrow to her, wondering if this'll be enough. Hera sighed and left Ezra alone as she ate her meal. Finishing, Ezra chucked the core of the fruit out of the ship as it was poisonous to humans to eat. Feeling her tired muscles acting up and the general aches she was starting to have, she climbed onto the bed and fell asleep.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Ezra choked and shot straight up in her bunk, struggling to breath and didn't notice the tear tracks on her face. The nightmares were getting worse since she was caught by Kallus a second time and if it ever happened again...she shivered in the thought of it. Not knowing what time it was, she climbed down while trying to calm herself down. Ezra looked around and didn't like how closed in it felt. She raced to the gun torrent, plopped down onto the seat and just stared at the stars that were staring back at her while feeling her heart calm down from its racing palpitations from earlier. She started humming her mother's song again for the second time in the span of a day. She always liked the tune and it helped calm her down whenever she got worked up. Feeling her eyes grow heavy but not having enough energy to climb up onto her bunk again Ezra curled up on the seat and fell asleep.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Ezra woke up to the odd feeling again. Grimacing, she leaned back and winced when she felt her back pop a couple of times. Stretching her legs first and enjoying the feeling, Ezra got up slowly before heading down to the kitchen where there was food. She barely remembers that last time different food other than out dated ration bars were stocked up in her hideaway as getting those nutri bars were difficult and not always worth the effort to get. Unless they came in crates. Ezra loves crates. She walked in and saw Kanan looking at her.

"Zeb couldn't find you this morning." Ezra raised an eyebrow.

"And?" And said slowly, not understanding the point.

"You don't disappear during the middle of the night."

"Why do you care?" Ezra shot back, pushing Kanan out of the way. Kanan didn't know what to say and just let her go. She went back into her and Zeb's room (since it was the only one with a bunk), and flopped down on her bed while fuming. What right does he have to ask about her past? It's not like he's all open either. She climbed into the air vent right above her bed where she knows she'll be alone and laid her cheek against the cold metal of the panel. Not having the energy to really get up and not getting much sleep from last night, she accidentally fell asleep.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Kanan was starting to get worried when he couldn't find Ezra anywhere in the ship. There wasn't anyplace for him to run to off the ship so that helps narrow things down. Running out of places he could think of Kanan leaned against the wall that was facing an air vent. Eyes snapping wide, he looked overhead and couldn't help but shake his head at the boy.

"Hera, I think I might have found our missing boy."

"Might have?" Hera raised her one tattooed eyebrow in question. He merely pointed upwards to the air vents. Hera got the look of understanding before shaking her head. "None of us will fit, except for Sabine and it would be tight for her."

"Then we're just going to leave him in there?" Kanan exclaimed.

"Let him come out on his own time, show him we trust him enough for that and maybe, he'll begin trusting us himself." Hera reminded him. Then she added on after seeing his look. "Trust me on this one."

Ezra did come out later and was fully expecting to be reprimmed but one look from Hera to Kanan stopped any thoughts from that and Hera instead talked to Ezra about the rules the Ghost has. Ezra has a small amount of respect for Hera and thankfulness that Kanan came back for her (especially after hearing the story by eavesdropping), which is more than she can say for the rest of the crew for now.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Ezra was walking around the ship with her mind wandering when she knocked into Zeb.

"Sorry." She muttered, not wanting to get on his bad side since she has to bunk with him.

"Kid." Ezra stopped cold and turned around slowly. Zeb looked uncomfortable. "I'm sorry!" He blurted out. Ezra was shocked. He's actually apologizing? Wanting to rub her eyes to make sure this wasn't a trick, she stared at him. Zeb started shifting on his feet from Ezra's intense stare. Ezra looked at him for a little longer before walking away. "That's it?" Zeb said. You could hear the anger. Ezra stopped.

"It'll take a little while to forgive you." She said coldly. "You don't leave people for dead." With that, she walked away with her knuckles white in her fist.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Ezra was crawling around in the vents again. She found it as her new pass time as she didn't have any formal responsibilities for now and decided to get acquainted with the ventilation system. Moving forward, she kept going until she found a grate to crawl out of. Concentrating, she focused on unscrewing the bolts and listened as one by one, they clanged to the floor. Crawling out, she replaced the grate and stood straight up, finding herself in the kitchen…again. "Why do I  _always_ end up here?" She muttered to herself. Looking around, she saw that she was the only one here. Curious, she poked around the cupboards and idly snatched a couple of nutri bars for later. Stepping into the cockpit, she heard all conversation drop.

"Ezra, you and Sabine go and get the supplies we're running low on." Kanan said. Ezra was frustrated. She wanted to do some training. Anything would be nice right about now. Her senses were going off in the back of her mind again. It wasn't anything urgent so she ignored it for now until a later time she can examine it. It's only when the feeling of pressure behind her eyes started that something was happening. It's rare, but it did happen once in a while. It usually came in seeing flashes of people she's never seen until that moment and usually meant something. She tries to remember everything but without any training, she can only try to catch the images as it slips through her fingers and has trouble remembering it later. She's just glad that she hasn't had anymore of those weird dreams again. She never did remember what they were just fleeting feelings that usually had her on edge for days afterwards. She's hoping with the training she can control it so it's not so random.

Leaving behind Sabine, Ezra tried to hide her frustration but has a feeling that Kanan knows exactly how she was feeling if his disapproving look was any indication. It's not that she wanted to please him, but she wants him to at least stop resenting her. Gritting her teeth, Ezra followed Sabine off the ship and into the old market place. Whenever Ezra was in town, she was always cautious and scanned the area. She knew Vizago was looking for her, but she didn't want to go in alone, not wanting to know what would happen if she did. She had her hat pulled down to disguise her unique navy blue hair that could almost pass for black. Looking around, she scanned the area for any new Lothrats that might become problematic later.

Leaving Sabine for a couple minutes, Ezra spotted Mc'iel leaning against a house while looking bored.

"Haven't seen you in a while runt." He grunted. Mc'iel was one of the first to help her out when she was first on the streets. She couldn't stay with him though for very long and had to figure out her own way if anything happened which with her luck it did.

"Been keeping out of the way." Ezra replied while keeping her voice leveled. "I'm cashing in a favour." Mc'iel looked at her and stopped tossing his stone.

"You never cash in your favours." He said. You could almost hear the disbelief in his voice. Everyone who's dealt with Ezra knows that she hordes her favours and defends them like and angry rancor. The fact that she's using one was a pretty big deal.

"Well I need to now." Ezra said impatiently. "I need someone to keep an eye on things here. The usual gangs and if any new ones come up and take over, Imperial stuff. You know the drill."

"Why would you cash in a favour for that?" He asked. Ezra could almost taste the curiosity now.

"I'll be coming back planet side once in a while and I need a set of eyes down here." Even if she remotely trusted him not to stab her in the back, she wasn't stupid enough to tell him where she was going. "And I trust you won't be telling anyone." Ezra said with a steel edge in her voice. Mc'iel did a jerky nod while Ezra nodded back and left.

"And runt," Ezra stopped and turned to face him. "Try not to get yourself killed. It'll get pretty boring." Was that concern she heard? Shrugging it off, Ezra went back to the market to join Sabine who was finishing with the purchases. She ignored Sabine's looks and kept walking as they picked up a couple of supplies since they haven't left yet. The money was starting to run low with no new jobs yet. Ezra was also starting to get frustrated with Kanan as he hasn't said anything about jedi training and it's been nearly a week since she's been on board. She's known about them before yes, but she can't really control it. To a certain degree she can, but she doesn't have any of the finer control she needs. And she promised to herself to not let Amara's fate fade into memory so she'd dedicate herself to the training, if she would get it.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

"I thought you said that this would be an easy get in get out!" Ezra yelled as she was shooting at the stormtroopers. The crew got a mission to pick up a shipment of supplies and they needed the money badly. They were on a star destroyer and within minutes there was stormtroopers flooding the cargo bay. "Apparently I was mistaken." Kanan said tensely. "Spectre one to  _Ghost._ We need a pick up and we're coming in hot."

" _Copy that spectre one_."

"Back to the ship!" Kanan yelled. Running and making sure that she mentally kept track of everyone on ship, Sabine was the first one to make it back to the  _Ghost_ , followed by Zeb very close behind. Ezra kept checking behind her and watched as Kanan didn't move.

"Kanan!" she shouted as she made it back to the ship. Kanan looked behind him and took a parting shot at a trooper and ran to the ship with Ezra right in front of him.

" _Ghost_ , take off." The engines revved up and took off. As soon as they left the atmosphere, TIEs were right behind them with the Star Destroyer right on their tails.


	5. More Thieving and Learning About Zeb

Hera maneuvered the  _Ghost_ away from the Star Destroyer with everyone but Kanan racing to the cockpit (as he ran to the gun torrent), where Hera quickly sat down and with Chopper, were inputting the coordinates for hyperspace.

"How much longer?" Ezra asked with a nervous feeling, not liking the 'being hunted' feeling.

"Not too much longer." Hera replied as she dodged TIE fire.

"I don't have a shot!" Kanan yelled over the internal comm. He tried to hit the TIEs but they kept going out of the guns reach he couldn't do anything to the swarm. "Chopper do you have the coordinates?" Hera demanded. Chopper sounded outrage. "What did he say?" Zeb asked. "He said hello hyperspace." Hera replied as she punched in the last coordinates. "That's not what he said." Zeb deadpanned. Ezra gave a small smile at that as the Ghost launched into hyperspace. She relaxed in her seat as Kanan came in.

"I told you we'd get away."

" _With_ the shipment. You said we'd get away  _with_  the shipment." Sabine said. Ezra had to hold in her laughter with the way Sabine sounded as if she was scolding Kanan. Kanan had a look on his face that had Ezra nearly biting her knuckles so she wouldn't laugh. Hera was looking over the fuel cells. "Kanan, we're low on everything. Food, fuel-"

"Explosives," Sabine chimed in. Ezra had to wonder about Sabine's love of making things explode. "Without fuel we might as well put the  _Ghost_ in storage." Hera said while crossing her arms. Kanan knows that they are low on supplies as Sabine and Ezra's supply run was to get only the essentials they needed. He thought about it. There was that job Vizago mentioned…

"There's always Vizago's job." Ezra nearly shot up in her seat when Kanan mentioned Vizago. They deal with  _him?_ Nearly groaning, Ezra knows that the outcome of everything will not be good now. Vizago helped her out one winter yes, but as he likes to point out, "business is business," and has tried to keep a grip on her over the years because of it. The only thing he wrangled out of her was a deal to pay off her debt so she wouldn't be at his beck and call all the time. She was so lost in her thoughts that she barely registered what Zeb said about not knowing what type of weapons they're after, Ezra couldn't help but say, "as long as it puts food on the table and frees up some time for, oh I don't know,  _jedi training,_ then I'm in." She added a look to Kanan when she said that but has a feeling that he'll ignore it. She didn't even know she was leaning until Kanan pushed her back. She had to push down her instincts to throw him into a wall when he did that. He turned to Hera ignoring Ezra.

"Well, you game?" Hera gave him a look. "Say I am. What then?" Kanan was grinning. "I already know the mission. Let's head to the spaceport. I'll explain on the way" Ezra couldn't help but give Kanan a small look at that in confusion but let it go as Kanan explained what was going on. She nodded once in a while until Kanan got to her part. He was partnering her up with Chopper.  _'This should be interesting,'_ Ezra thought. Chopper likes to be an annoyance on a good day.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Ezra looked at the small transport ship as she got in line to get on with Chopper at her side. Sabine and Zeb were already on with Ezra being the last. Chopper zoomed on ahead of Ezra and started talking in binary which sounded like profanities. "How rude." Zeb said. Ezra had a feeling Zeb enjoys this as he won't get tazed since Hera gave Chopper specific instruction not to taze Zeb as they were on a mission. Ezra caught up to Chopper and gave him a smack as she sat down. She barely registered, "this way Mr. Wabo." With Chopper not doing anything, Ezra decided to watch this. When the alien started talking, the minister got a frustrated look on her face. "Where is that translator?"

"Coming minister." A mechanical voice said. "Come along R2." Ezra stared at the two droids as a wave came over her and the pressure behind her eyes got excruciating until she could hear nothing but white noise.

_Ezra shook her head and saw that she was inside of a ship that she's never seen before with a girl that looked about the same age as her dressed in an elaborate dress and head piece with white make up on and the small droid she saw rolling onto her ship not seconds ago. "Without a doubt, this little droid saved the ship and our lives."_

_"It is to be commended. What is its number?"_

_"R2-D2 your highness."_

_"Thank you R2-D2."_

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

_Ezra was now in a small hut with a young brunette girl and a sandy blonde hair boy who was dragging her into another room. A mess of wires was this droid. "He's a protocol droid to help mom."_

_"He's wonderful."_

_"I am C3PO human-cyborg relations. How may I service you today?"_

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

_Ezra watched as the two droids (the protocol droid now having coverings on), as the man walked up to another. "Captain Antilles."_

_"Yes your highness?" Ezra was now curious._

_"I'm placing these droids in your care. Treat them well, clean them up and have the protocol droid's mind wiped."_

_"What? Senator Organa!" C3PO cried. R2D2 gave what sounded like a droid laugh._

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

" _Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope."_

Kanan watched as Ezra's face contorted in pain and was rubbing his temple when his eyes clenched shut like he was trying to hold in the pain. Chopper shocked Ezra but it didn't get any reaction from him so when Chopper shocked him again with a higher voltage, Ezra jumped pretty high and had a look in his eyes that said he saw something.

Ezra was shocked out of everything she was seeing by Chopper who was now laughing and trying to get into the chair.

"Will you cut it out?" Ezra snapped. "You have your own space so stop crowding me." Ezra said through clenched teeth. She didn't like being crowded on a good day and today wasn't a good day. Chopper decided to shock her again, taking her off guard while she fell to the floor.

"Kid, why don't you take that rust bucket and get it under control?" Kanan demanded as Ezra got back up.

"It's none of your business." Chopper waved his mechanical arms around in outrage and proceeded to try and shock Kanan who jumped out of the way. Kanan looked over at the two other droids and came up with an idea.

"Hey pilot, isn't there a regulation against droids in the passenger area?" Ezra quickly connected the dots and grinned inwardly. If it was possible, then the droid at the front would sigh.

"I am sorry sir, your astromach must proceed to the back."

"Well if my astromach is banished, then why not those two?" Ezra demanded while pointing to the other two droid near the front.

Sabine had a wicked smile on her face when she heard what Ezra was doing. Getting rid of the protocol droid so the minister wouldn't be able to understand Mr. Wabo was brilliant and it helped simplify the plan entirely. And it helps that she knows the language. The golden protocol droid sounded offended.

"Me? An astromach? Why, I've never been so insulted! I'll have you know that I am a protocol droid fluent in over six million fo-" Ezra raised an eyebrow at the droids antics. "Pilot, these two droids are with me and I am on Imperial business." The minister said. Ezra noted she had a slightly panicked look on her face over the prospect of losing her translator. The droid look at her. "Sorry ma'am but these are  _Imperial_ regulations."

Ezra nearly cackled at the look the droid was now getting if Chopper wasn't poking her again. She gave the droid a look who just ignored her as he gave one last sharp shock before going to the back. "I can't have you spoiling these negotiations. Now go." The minister barked. The two droids left with the protocol droid complaining, "Oh this is so humiliating. Trust an astromach to ruin everything." Ezra was trying not to snicker at the droid's antics and curled up on her seat, suddenly feeling drained. She hates these visions since they take a lot out of her and always leaves her disoriented afterwards. "Secret mission?  _What_ secret mission?" The protocol droid asked R2. Ezra peered behind her seat with her interest suddenly peaked. Unfortunately, they were now out of her hearing range and couldn't hear them over the engines. She took vague notice of Zeb and Sabine chatting with the minister and her  _friend._

"Nice call kid." Ezra nearly whipped around in her seat when Kanan said that. She just shrugged.

"Seemed like a good idea." She murmured. The two sat in silence for the rest of the ride while Sabine worked on getting her information, although Ezra noted that she was slightly overdoing it with the acting. Shrugging, Ezra turned to stare out her window as the blue streaks of stars past her.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

"Sentient's, we are approaching Garel. Please prepare for landing." They came out of hyperspace and Ezra couldn't help but be in awe of the planet. It's no Lothal, but it looked amazing. As soon as the craft landed, Ezra was the first one out and looked around trying to take everything in with Chopper right behind her.

Kanan ran off which made Ezra think,  _'that would make anyone suspicious.'_ Or it could be just her. She walked towards the crates where she noticed an air vent near the top of them and waited for Sabine. "Take us straight to bay seventeen." The minister declared. Ezra didn't have to wait long for Sabine. "Bay seven," she whispered as she put her helmet on.

Ezra didn't acknowledge it but she looked around and when she saw no one, she started jumping up towards the air vent while keeping an eye out to make sure no one was coming. Opening up to grate, she slid inside and turned on her comm. "Kanan, I thought you were going to teach me  _jedi_ stuff and all I've been doing is thieving and I already know how to do all this." She griped out as she made her way up. "Just get to bay seven, open the door and we all get paid."

"So we steal to stay alive, that nothing new. And after we get paid do I actually get to be trained?" She asked before shutting her comm off, not wanting to listen to excuses right now as she concentrated on finding where bay seven was in the first place. Following the tugs in her stomach, she made her way up until she hit a grate and flipped it open to show she was on the roof. Biting her lip, Ezra took a deep breath and looked to where she needed to go.

Steeling herself, she took off running. Right on the edge, she jumped, landing on top of a building when a speeder craft flew past her. She did her running jump again with more success and forgot to look for speeders when she felt a pain in her head and jumped. It disoriented her enough that she didn't make it to the top and was slipping. Frantically trying to find a hand hold, the grips on her gloves caught her from falling to her death. Scrambling up, she tried to calm her racing heart. Getting up, she did her favourite force induced jump to get over the ledge and did a summersault as she landed to soften the impact. She ran to the grate, opened it and jumped straight down. A few seconds in, she used her feet to break so she wouldn't break something when she got to the level she needed. Opening the grate, she cringed when she didn't find anything to break her fall. "This is gonna hurt," she muttered to herself with a slightly fearful look. Looking at the wall, she saw that some of the metal was rounded out and sticking out. Deciding that she'll do that, Ezra let go of the grate and her hands immediately flew to the wall, trying to catch the metal. She gasped when her arms pulled painfully, but that's nothing compared to the fifteen foot drop she still had. "Ok Ezra, you got this." She let go and broke her fall by rolling forward so there was a much lesser chance of her breaking her legs. Running to the door, she quickly opened it.

"Well kid, you pulled it off." Zeb said while sarcastically clapping.

"Was there any doubt?" She asked.

"Yes." Sabine and Zeb said, making Ezra glare at the two of them. She caught up to the two and was curious as to what was inside the crates. Zeb opened on and stepped back in horror at what he saw.

"Karablast." He said with a shiver. Ezra couldn't help but be uncomfortable at how shaken Zeb was sounding right now. Kanan was beside Zeb when Sabine picked one up. "These are T-7 ion disruptors. They were banned by the Senate and can short-circuit an entire ship with one."

"That's not why they were banned." Zeb had a haunted look in his eyes. "It doesn't matter right now. We need to get these on the ship now before company comes." Kanan said in a no nonsense tone. Ezra had an urge to smack Kanan to show a little sympathy. From what she's seen, she thought nothing can shake Zeb but these seemed to have thrown that theory out the window.

Kanan and Sabine grabbed the first two trollies while Ezra and Zeb had the third.

"Hurry! They can be here-"

"Times up!" Ezra said over Kanan. Zeb stopped but Ezra kept pushing the crates forward before she was shouted at the stop. Not wanting to get into a blaster fight, Ezra stopped. Zeb had his hands up and was walking towards the stormtroopers with a slight swag in his step.

"There a problem here?" He asked. Ezra heard garble before she heard a voice that she didn't want to hear. She strained to hear what the droid was saying but from what she did catch was that the Imperials weren't happy that they were taking their stuff. "There must be some mistake. These can't possibly be distruptors because they're illegal remember?" Ok, now Zeb was antagonizing them. Ezra was trying to think of a way out when she saw Kanan out of the corner of her eye making his way towards him with his blaster drawn. With Ezra being in full view, she couldn't.

"It doesn't matter, we're going to search your crates."

"Be my guest." Two troops came forward and Ezra was starting to think that they could get away without bloodshed when she heard, "on second thought," Zeb decided to throw the two stormtroopers at the others. Ezra had the urge to do a face palm when she drew out her pistol and started firing as Zeb decided to get even more involved.  _'You have to be kidding me.'_ Ezra thought with a small growl at the idiocy she was seeing.

"Get those crates aboard the ship now!" Kanan ordered. Ezra didn't say anything as she left with them. Sabine was at the bottom of the ramp and Ezra waved her over to help since she isn't sure if she can push these crates aboard herself. Ezra heard voices behind her but ignored it for now until those crates were aboard.  _"Spectre one to Ghost, we're good to go."_ Came over the intercom. Ezra and Sabine noticed the new droids on board.

"Oh look, Chopper made friends."  _'Oh perfect! Just what we need!'_ Ezra thought in the same tone Sabine used.

"I am C3PO and this is my counterpart, R2-D2. I was translating for minister Tua when we were suddenly attacked by thieves like-" C3PO was startled when Zeb came aboard with a slightly murderous look on his face. As soon as they were in space, Kanan started giving out orders.

"Specter five, get some restraining bolts on these two."

"On it."

"Spectre six, spectre three, keep an eye on them." Ezra mentally sighed at the fact she was on guard duty right now. "Right, that'll happen," Ezra muttered over the droid who was insisting that this was all a mistake and ignored it as it followed her as she down the hall a little so she wouldn't have to listen to all this. She heard Sabine coming back down so she went back to join them and was in time to hear Sabine mentioning that the Imperials were going to mass produce them on Lothal. She bent her head so no one would see her scowl at the fact that the Empire wanted to have more of a presence on her home. Grabbing the bolts from Sabine and fitting the bolts first on the protocol droid, then on R2-D2, she smirked when Sabine said, "if we need credits, maybe Vizago will buy these two droids."  _'One could hope,'_ Ezra thought. C3PO was getting on her nerves. "Yeah good idea." With that, Kanan disappeared.

Ezra said nothing and when everyone left, she looked at the little R2 unit with a grin.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Tired, Ezra decided to get some shut eye so she went to her cabin…where Zeb promptly kicked her out. "You can't do this!" She nearly screamed while she hit the door with each word she said. "It's my cabin too!"

"Ezra! Get up here." Looking at the door with anger in her eyes, she gave the door one last punch before leaving to Hera, ready to complain.

"Hera, Zeb's kicked me out-"

"I know." Hera cut her off. "But maybe you could cut him a little slack?" Ezra gave her a look.

"Like he cuts  _me_ slack?" She asked sarcastically.

"Do you know what a T-7 distruptor is and what it does to an organic being?" Ezra was now confused on why Hera asked as she sat down.

"No, why?"

"Zeb does. It's what the Imperials used on his people while clearing his homeworld. Very few Lasats survived and none remain on Lasan." Ezra looked down at that revelation and mentally went over what she's seen today in terms of Zeb's mentality. Seeing ones family killed is one thing. Seeing the weapon and hearing that it's going to be mass produced after your whole species is nearly wiped out is another. Tie the two together and you have a recipe for an explosion. Ezra mentally cringed at the thought.

"I guess I can cut him a little slack." She muttered. "Good man. So, how's the jedi training with Kanan going?" Ezra snorted.

"Jedi training? Never heard of it. I've been here for a week and not one mention of jedi training." Ezra said in frustration as she spun around in her chair. Hera gave Ezra a sympathetic look.

"We'll see about that," Hera muttered. "Go get some sleep. We'll be at Lothal in a few hours." Ezra just nodded and went to go find somewhere to curl up and sleep. Deciding on the kitchen area this time, Ezra curled up on the seats and closed her eyes. Her dreams were mostly pleasant at first, with memories of her parents swimming around in her mind before she was sucked into a place she's never seen before.

_Screams of terror filled her ears as Ezra looked around. Lasats of all ages were running and screaming in terror as Imperials holding disruptors kept getting closer. One lined up a shot and hit a Lasat. Intead of just dropping to the ground, the Lasat convulsed before exploding._

Ezra had a scream in her throat and looked around in terror. She learned the art of staying silent when even she's jolted from a sleep when she was eight and that was a painful lesson. It was one of her close calls with being drafted to work in a brothel. After that, she learned some tricks to keep quiet.  _'I know_ exactly  _what disruptors do Hera.'_ She thought grimly. Shivering, she tried to get a few more minutes of rest before having to get up.


	6. Business Area Turned Battleground

Ezra was trying to shake the images out of her head as she quickly braided her hair and twisted it so it wouldn't bulge in her hat before making her way to the cargo bay where everyone but Hera and Kanan were already waiting. She rubbed some of the grit out of her eye as her vision sharpened. She couldn't look at Zeb right now without seeing the dead Lasat's. Looking away, she heard Kanan and Hera arguing. "Can we discuss this later?" Kanan asked in irritation as he climbed down the ladder after Hera. "That's fine love. But we  _will_ discuss it." Ezra had a feeling it was over what she said last night and didn't look in Kanan's direction.

Beeping from the R2 unit drew her focus away. She looked at Sabine for a translation. "This R2 says that its real mission was to keep the disruptors from reaching the Empire and his master would pay handsomely for their return." Ezra raised an eyebrow at that. Kanan had a thoughtful look on his face at this.

"I'll think about it." Zeb however, didn't need to think about it.

"So, we're not selling the droids, but we are selling the T-7?!" Ezra had to admit that when Zeb puts it like that, she'd be furious too. "We don't even know who Vizago's buyer is!"  _'And you probably don't want to know,'_ Ezra thought sourly.

"We know it's not the Empire, and I already made a deal with Vizago so let's get these crates off the boat."  _'Yes, because Vizago is_ so  _trustworthy,'_ Ezra thought sarcastically although she has to admit that Vizago is a lot better of a choice depending on what you need. Having a debt? She'd choose Vizago every time. C3PO went to help Kanan who gave the droid a dirty look for that and took the first set of crates off the ship.

Ezra could feel her face draining of blood with every step she took outside. Her hands were shaking which had Zeb snapping at her. She growled at him, not having the patience to deal with this right now. She knows for a fact that Vizago will out her. She just worries about the how part. She and Zeb took the last set of crates off the ship and into what Ezra likes to call the 'business area,' which is where all deals are made. She kept her head ducked so Vizago wouldn't see her face at first before she made it into the area. She went beside the land speeder while crossing her arms, waiting for Vizago to start talking.

"I assume there were no problems?" Vizago asked Kanan.

"Not this time." Kanan replied tersely. Vizago said nothing as he scanned the area and Kanan's eyes widened when his eyes zoomed on Ezra who still had her head bent down.

"I was wondering where you were hiding." Ezra said nothing, stubbornly looking down with her arms crossed. Vizago walked over to her and Kanan had an urge to go over there and block Vizago's way. "You have no idea how many patrons were mad when you didn't show up."

"Not like I had a choice Vizago." Ezra shot back. She was stuck on a Star Destroyer with Kallus and his creepy looks.

"You do know that you have to make it up to me." Ezra gave him a flat look that said,  _'do you think I'm that stupid?'_ Vizago chuckled. "Of course you know." Kanan cleared his throat. Vizago straightened up and looked straight at Kanan. "When I asked you where one of my dancers were, you lied Jarrus."

"They don't know anything Vizago." Ezra said in panic.  _'Where did that come from?'_ She thought.

"We don't know what?" Zeb asked while crossing his arms while giving Ezra a stare. Ezra stared at Vizago.

"I'll tell them if you won't." Knowing she's been backed into a corner, Ezra flicked her eyes around before she took her hat off and unpinned her hair so her braid would fall. The crew watched as dark hair that was plaited went down Ezra's back. Kanan's eyes narrowed as everything clicked. Zeb just scoffed at this, not believing it. Sabine looked at Ezra and was scrutinizing her while Hera gave her a look. Chopper was the only one who didn't do anything and was beeping and clicking. "I'll still turn you into scrap metal." Ezra snapped. "Chopper knew?!" Sabine said with an unreadable expression. Ezra's eyes closed off. "My mistake." She said flatly.

She turned to Vizago who had an unreadable expression on his face before he suddenly wound his hand around her braid, griped the back of her head and pulled her closer to him while pulling her up so her toes were sweeping the ground. Ezra didn't notice the crew stepped forward with weapons out if something happened with Kanan having a hand on his lightsaber hilt.

"There's still the issue of you not showing up and you know what happens when you don't." He repeated. Ezra's eyes widened a tiny fraction. If he was repeating points then he was pissed. She gritted her teeth.

"I know exactly what happens Vizago and it's kind of hard to come when you're stuck in a holding cell." Vizago gave her a look. "Kallus remembered how I got out last time." She said flatly.

"You do have tools hidden on you."

"Hard to hide anything when he does a strip search on you!" She snapped. She didn't realize that Kanan narrowed his eyes when she mentioned that. "But that's not why I'm here." Ezra said. She grabbed Vizago's hand and pried his fingers off her hair before giving him a look. She turned to Vizago. "We have something you want but you know that you'll have to buy it from us first." Vizago laughed, acting like the past few minutes didn't happen.

"And you haven't lost your sense of business at all Miss Bridger." Ezra shivered as an invisible breeze came through. Her eyes flicked to the crew who was standing away from her, almost distancing themselves from her. Vizago saw the flick and uncertain look in her eyes. "You finally found a chink in your own armour then?" Vizago chuckled. Ezra had an uncomfortable look on her face. "No matter. Now, these T-7 ion disruptors…" Vizago picked one up and held it like a baby. "I can play beautiful music on this."

"They aren't that kind of instrument." Zeb growled while leaning back.

"My mistake." Vizago said casually. "You just have to know how to play them."

"Let's just get this over with." Kanan said with a glint in his eyes. Everyone heard the engines of another spacecraft coming in. Vizago took the disruptor and looked through the cross hairs of the scope.

"You were followed!" He snarled.

"That's not possible!" Hera said in disbelief.

"Tell it to the Empire!" Ezra kind of had to agree with Vizago on that point. But her heart dropped when she saw two walkers attached to the craft. "Leave the rest, we're gone!" As the crew watched the craft coming at them, Ezra ran after Vizago with an idea that if it works, will have her breathing freely again. "We haven't got paid yet!" Kanan yelled. "Cikatro Vizago doesn't pay for half a shipment!"

"Vizago!" Ezra shouted. "The disruptors for my debt!" Vizago paused for a moment and turned to Ezra.

"No deal." Ezra couldn't believe him! This was enough to square her debt with Vizago and he says  _no?!_ "And a favour you owe me." Ezra swallowed hard at saying that. She has precious few favours that she can hold over the arms dealer that she played them close to her chest. That did stop him and he gave her a calculating look.

"Fine! Your debt is paid Ezra Bridger." Ezra felt her knees go weak in relief.

"I'm free," she whispered to herself and she felt giddy and happiness for the first time in a long time.

"Ezra!" Ezra was thrown back into reality. Right. Walkers. Stormtroopers. Bad.

Kanan watched Ezra as she shouted back to Vizago. She had a panicked look on her face before she started yelling about using the disruptors that they didn't get paid for, for paying off her debt. Vizago's answer had him staring at the arms dealer before Ezra tact on a favour she had from him. When he agreed, Ezra's expression was one he hasn't really seen in a long time. A sense of freedom was given to her. But right now he needed the girl's head in the game. "Ezra!" She ran over to him as the group circled around one of the remaining crates of disruptors.

"Shouldn't we be going too?" Sabine asked. Ezra completely agreed with her.

"We can't let these disruptors fall into Imperial hands." Alright, Kanan also had a point. Ezra was still a little farther from the back since she wasn't sure if she could come into the group after her incident. "Sabine, destroy the guns." Kanan ordered.

"Now you're speaking my language. I'll go get my gear." Ezra can easily imagine Sabine grinning like a maniac under her helmet as she ran off to get her stuff from the ship. She turned her head when she head Sabine exclaim "Of course! Overload the disruptors and boom! Good call little fella. You can join our crew anytime."  _'As long as goldenrod doesn't come.'_ Ezra thought as the rest of the crew ran to the crates. Ezra could see Kana's mind working a mile a second. "Sabine, Hera overload the guns. Zeb, Ezra, line them up. Meanwhile," Kanan picked up a disruptor. "I'll go deal with the walkers." Ezra rolled her eyes. Men. Always willing to blow things up when they get a chance to.

She was just thankful that he's letting her help right now. Ezra put the guns in position whenever Hera and Sabine were done overloading them as Zeb kept handing them over to be overloaded. When the one cart was full with overloaded disruptors, she moved them out of the way with Zeb's help as Kanan fired on one of the walkers. She watched as the electrical current overloaded the whole walker. Ezra couldn't help but shiver from comparing this to what she saw last night. Kanan took aim at the second walker as it fired at him, launching him backwards into the air and landed. Ezra cringed as that must've hurt.

Zeb got to him first and helped him up and the two took cover behind one of the smaller rock formations. Ezra ran up behind them to take cover as well. Grabbing her ELG 3A, Ezra saw a platform lowering with stormtroopers. With Agent Kallus behind them. Ezra's stomach dropped when she saw him but took a steady breath. "Advance and fire!" He ordered the stormtroopers as he walked onto the battlefield. Ezra caught something gold out of the corner of her eye. C3PO came out. "Oh thank you! I knew some form of help would arrive."

"I can think of some help you'll get." Ezra growled, thinking pleasantly of dismantling the problematic protocol droid and letting Chopper have some new parts because of that. Kanan gave her a small look which Ezra promptly ignored.

"I knew some form of rescue would arrive. I told R2 but he got so careless-" Stormtroopers got down on one knee and started firing, startling the droid. Ezra, Kanan and Zeb immediately started firing back as C3PO was walking back as fast as he could crying, "wait! Don't shoot, don't shoot! You're here to rescue me!" Ezra shook her head at the idiotic droid as she kept on firing at the troops. She didn't notice Kallus before he got within firing range. Everytime she tried to aim at him, she had to take cover since the stormtroopers were actually hitting the vicinity she was hiding.

"You! Lasat! Face me!" Kallus shouted. Kallus looked beyond Zeb and saw Ezra. "Miss Bridger," he purred. "Fancy seeing you here again." Ezra just sneered at him and kept shooting at the stormtroopers as Kallus turned on his weapon which enraged Zeb within seconds. Zeb grabbed his bow rifle and Ezra could now see that Kallus was wielding one as well but it was powered by yellow crystals while Zeb's was purple. He rushed at Kallus while ignoring Kanan and Ezra's shouts to stop.

Ezra could now see that this was the explosion part of Zeb's mentality. Zeb let out an animalistic cry as his and Kallus' bow rifles clashed against each other. Kallus went for a strike when Zeb blocked it. Zeb thrust the rifle upwards to try and get Kallus unbalanced. Kallus repositioned himself and went for another blow while Zeb went into for his own strike. They moved around while striking and blocking each other. Ezra couldn't track them completely with how fast they were going while she was trying not to get shot. Kallus ducked a swipe from Zeb and didn't expect to be thrown into the air. "Only the honour guard of Lasan may carry a bow rifle." Zeb growled. Kallus laughed. Ezra couldn't help but think  _'he's crazy.'_ "I know. I removed it from a guardsman myself." Ezra could easily see that enraged Zeb who leaped backwards when Kallus took a swipe at his feet and rolled on the ground until he was on his feet again. Ezra dearly wanted to take a shot at Kallus but couldn't, not with Zeb in the way. She may still be mad about him leaving her on the Star Destroyer but she isn't so callus to try and take a shot during their fast paced duel. Zeb tried to land a couple hits as Kallus kept backing into the business area where Vizago was not minutes ago.

Her ears pricked when she heard Kallus talking over the buzz of the bow rifle's electricity. "I was there when Lasan fell. I know why you fear those distruptors." Ezra cringed, remembering the dream from last night while Kallus was smiling. "I gave the order to use them!" Kallus was dead. If she got the chance to, she'd shoot him dead. No one has the right to exterminate a species, especially in the manner Kallus did. Thinking about it made her stomach turn as more troops kept firing on her and Kanan. One blast came close to scorching Ezra and Kanan saw them moving in.

"Come on!" Ezra ran for another rock formation closer to the trading area where Zeb and Kallus were fighting while Kanan was still closer to the troops. Zeb was so enraged that his swipes became more sloppy and a well-placed kick from Kallus sent him sliding back on his feet slightly. Ezra watched as Zeb and Kallus fought. Zeb missed Kallus who took the opening and used the end of the rifle to electrocute Zeb who growled in outrage. Ezra couldn't stop watching them as Kallus did it again. She barely registered the fact that Kanan came over to her as her eyes were tracking the two combatants.

"That fool Lasat is going to get himself killed!" Kanan said and covered his face as a blaster shot came too close for comfort. "Ok, we're ready!" Sabine shouted. Kanan and Ezra ran from their hiding spot and took a crate of disruptors before pushing it right where the stormtroopers were. They weren't fast enough to get away and were caught in the aftershock.

Ezra went flying through the air and when she hit the ground she lost her grip on her blaster which flew a few feet from her. She squeezed her eyes shut for a few seconds to help with the ringing in her head. When she looked up, she saw Kallus standing on top of Zeb smiling while holding his rifle above his head, ready for the kill strike. Ezra saw red. Kallus wasn't going to take any more from her. Not after everything she's been though. Pushing herself up quickly (and with a little prayer to her father), she thrust her hands out while crying "No!" Hearing Kallus' cry sounded like music to her ears. When she opened her eyes, she saw Kallus lying on the ground after hitting the rock formation from her push.

Ezra stared at her hands in amazement and shock. She's never done  _this_ before and didn't notice her hands were slightly trembling. She was so lost in her world, she barely registered Kanan saying, "Spectre two, get the kid aboard." Hera quickly grabbed Ezra, who jumped in the process of Hera touching her. "Come on Ezra." Hera grabbed Ezra's arm (who made no protest this time as she quickly bent down for her pistol), and ran aboard the  _Ghost._ "Everyone, move now!" Hera ordered. She heard Hera order Chopper to get them out of the area and felt the ship jolt from being on the ground. She looked at everyone and made a decision.

She ran.


	7. Reactions

When Kanan got Zeb aboard, everyone immediately crowded him. "Will he be ok?" Sabine asked. "I'm fine," Zeb said with a small groan following his statement. "Thanks for the save Kanan."

"Wasn't me," he admitted. "It was Ezra." Everyone looked around for Ezra who wasn't anywhere to be found in the cargo bay.

As soon as Ezra got her bearings she ran from the cargo bay and into hers and Zeb's room, locking the door from the inside. She was too shaken to even try to get into the air vents, not with her control nearly non existent and with shaking hands. She crawled up onto her bunk and tried to calm down but was having issues with it. The crew knows. They know she worked for Vizago and they're going to get rid of her because she's a liar. She knows that's what happened to another person. Word on the street was that the crew wasn't very forgiving about it, making her tremble even more as the one Loth rat who was much older than her took great delight in telling the children exactly what happened. She cursed herself when she felt a tear run down her face in frustration. Her head shot up when she heard knocking. Backing herself into the corner and tried to make herself as small as possible, Ezra said nothing.

Kanan tried knocking again but knew that Ezra wasn't going to answer. He saw Zeb's surprised look when he said Ezra saved him and wasn't surprised by that. Ezra was pretty cold towards him most of the time and now he has a promise to keep to Hera as well. If it wasn't for Ezra's little power display, he would've tried to delay the training but now he couldn't, not with the amount of power she's showing. Sighing, he waved his hand in front of the door, unlocking it and stepped in. His eyes traveled to the dark corner on the upper bunk where Ezra was trying to make herself disappear. He was kicking himself on how he didn't see this. All the signs were there and it's quite obvious now. Climbing up, Kanan saw how badly she was shaking and whenever his hand went near her, she retreated farther into the corner, however impossible it seemed. "Ezra." Ezra didn't look up. Kanan sighed. He was trying to work out a way he could get Ezra to at least look up when he heard, "are you going to get rid of me now?" It was so quiet he almost missed it. Ezra just wanted the truth straight up.

"What?" He said in honest confusion. Yes, there will be a serious talking to later ( _especially_ about what happened on the Star Destroyer), but right now he just wanted to see where she disappeared to. He heard about the debt and wanted to know what that was about. "Why didn't you tell us you were a girl?"

"You assumed I was a boy so I let you believe it. Besides, it's safer that way." Ezra didn't want to elaborate on that. But Kanan pushed.

"Why is it so important to hide like this?" Ezra looked at Kanan and could feel from the Force that she can trust him with this.

"It's safer to be on the streets as a boy. That gives you protection in itself. Girls are snatched of the streets to work in brothels once their old enough and make deals if they're too young to work there yet."

"Like your deal with Vizago." Ezra's jaw shut with an audible click. Her look was the only answer Kanan needed.

"It's my problem." She muttered angrily.

"It's the entire crew's problem if it affects you."

"Why? I'll be gone anyway."

"What makes you think we're getting rid of you?" Ezra gave him a look.

"I lied to everyone for over a week. Some crews would kill you if they found out. Some would do it for less." Kanan's jaw clenched in anger as he listened to her monotone reasoning. He has heard rumours about those types of crews and no doubt that Ezra has heard of them either. "We'll be talking about all this later but for now, we need to get these droids back to their master." Ezra just nodded with a blank stare and Kanan got off the bed. Stopping at the door, he turned. "Ezra," Ezra looked up. "You can trust us and your jedi training starts tomorrow." With that he left. Ezra was very uncertain about all of this. No longer needing to hide is a good thing yes, but that also means coming clean about her job for Vizago. Or, maybe just what most of the job entails.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Kanan looked at the credits in his hand. "That's very generous of you sir."

"I'm very fond of these droids. Even the simplest gesture of kindness can fill a galaxy of hope." Kanan looked at the credits in his hand.

"Isn't that a jedi saying?" Kanan asked in confusion.

"Safe travels my friend."

"Safe travels." Kanan repeated. Kanan gave one look over his shoulder before leaving.

Senator Organa gave R2 a fond look. "You didn't give them my name." He said while looking at C3PO. "Of course I didn't Senator Organa. Although, permission to shut down?" Organa could almost hear the droid begging. "Permission granted." When the golden droid left, Organa turned his attention to R2. "Did you record everything while you were there old friend?" R2 gave a series of beeps, sounding offended. "Of course you did." R2 gave a whirl. "A message?" Organa asked. R2 gave a beep and played it.  _"Hello senator. My name is Ezra Bridger…"_

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Kanan went in to check on Ezra and wasn't surprised to see her sleeping. With all the running around she did and that massive force push, it wasn't any wonder why she was tired. Deciding to leave her asleep, Kanan came back down into the cargo bay without Ezra.

"Well?" Zeb said.

"Well what?" Kanan asked.

"What the kid say?"

"Ask her yourself when she's awake then."

"I'm not exactly her favourite person right now."

"You  _did_ leave her on the Star Destroyer." Sabine pointed out.

"I already apologized. What else does it take?" Zeb growled.

"Time." Kanan said. "It's going to take some time and a lot of patience."

"Doesn't help she lied to us." Zeb grumbled.

"We  _are_ the ones who assumed Ezra was a boy. She just didn't bother to correct us." Kanan pointed out.

"Kanan." Hera called. Kanan went into the cockpit where it was just the two of them. "Did you talk to her?" Hera asked.

"Yeah." He said. "She has a lot of secrets."

"She grew up on the streets Kanan. That's not easy for anyone, let alone a young girl by herself. You should be proud that she came out this strong."

"I know." Kanan said with a small shadow in his eyes, remembering his own stint on the streets as a teenager.  _But at what cost?_

"So what now?"

"Now, we're going to go and get those supplies we need badly."

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

They were back at Lothal getting the supplies they badly needed while Ezra slipped away to see Mc'iel when no one was paying attention to her.

"Anything happen in the past week?" She asked.

"Nothing of much importance." He shrugged. Ezra gave him a flat look at that.

"Don't give me that bantha fodder Mc'iel." He sighed.

"Fine. There are rumours that the Blood Callers are wanting to take the top spot from the Howlers." Ezra froze at that news. The Blood Callers may be a smaller gang but they are a lot more blood thirsty and violent than the Howlers who kept control of the underworld through blackmail and carefully staged 'accidents.' Ezra worked for the Howlers for a few weeks before getting drafted into the Blood Callers (who she hates with a passion), and Ezra refuses to think of that time. If she had to choose between the two, she'd choose the Howlers every time.

"Exactly how do they plan to do that?" Ezra demanded. Mc'iel shrugged. "'aven't 'eard anything yet. It's still just rumours." He said while letting the street drawl come out. Ezra had a bit of one but from messing with Imperials so often and mimicking them, she prefers the Imperial Centre accent. Everyone knows what happens when you deal with the Blood Callers and Ezra is one of the very few (Ezra reckons that there may be one, maybe two others still alive that's walked away from the Blood Callers and knows for a fact that she's the only female), who walked away, but that doesn't mean she didn't get burned because of it. The Blood Callers don't take people leaving very well. Ezra hesitated. "Keep me updated but be careful." She said finally. "They are vicious and will do anything to get the power they want." Mc'iel gave her a strange look as she's never said that before, especially with a warning.

Walking away, she saw Kanan looked at her with a questioning eye that Ezra ignored. She joined back with the group while keeping an eye on the people running in and out of the shadows.

"Ezra." She looked up and saw Hera looking at her and saw that everyone else has already started leaving. She did a small jog to catch up. "How're you holding up?" Hera asked. They stayed behind the group a little bit to talk privately.

"Fine." She said shortly.

"Ezra." The two stopped with Hera facing her. "We're not going to kick you off the crew because you're a female. Or because you lied for a week." Ezra's retort was shot down when Hera said that. "I'm sure you have your reasons and I hope that you'll tell us one day. Or someone." Ezra couldn't help but look away. "Just think about it."

"Hera?" Hera turned and saw Ezra with an unsure look on her face. "Do I still have to bunk with Zeb?" Hera was trying not to laugh at the question. "Unfortunately yes since his room is the only one with a spare bunk and Sabine doesn't really share since she has her explosives in there." Ezra had a sulking look on her face when she caught up.

"Are we staying here tonight?" Ezra asked. Hera looked surprised. "Yes, why?" Ezra fidgeted. "I need to go do something at my tower." Hera gave Ezra a searching look. "I should've done it a week ago." Hera narrowed her eyes and gave her a searching look. "Be back before midnight." Ezra's eyes lit up and took off running.

She went to her speeder that's been hiding for that past week and swung her leg over it before freezing. She narrowed her eyes and her head snapped to the shadows where she could see a silhouette of a person in the corner. Deciding not to take any chances, Ezra kick started her speeder before leaving for her tower. She enjoys the rides she does by herself when there's no Imperials chasing her. She stopped at her tower and hopped off her speeder and had it hidden at the base of the tower inside the tower where the duracrete and different metals mixed to keep the tower upright. There was also a small staircase to the top which Ezra hopes she never has to use.

There was a small section that workers carved out so they can still access the inner layers to make sure the tower won't be coming down anytime. Ezra just uses it to hide her speeder. She took out the lock mechanism and had it moved to the inside so she would be the only one able to get in. She laid on the knee high grass and watched the sun set in orange, pink and purple as black started to reach over everything, showing the different planets and stars. Ezra gave a small smile as she watched the stars twinkle in all their glory.

_"Look Ezzi! Will I ever get to see one up close?"_

_"Of course Amara! I'll buy you a ship just so you can see the stars up close."_

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Kanan didn't relax until Ezra snuck back onto the  _Ghost_ close to midnight. "See love?" Hera said quietly. "A little trust to her and she'll start showing us trust." Kanan couldn't help but look at Ezra who looked truly relaxed for the first time since he's met her. "Yeah." He turned away and went into his room to sleep. Ezra crawled into bed and fell asleep with a smile.

_"Ezzi? Tell me a story."_

_"How about the one about the princess trapped by the evil emperor and was saved by the brave jedi?"_

_"I always love that one."_

"So do I," Ezra breathed before falling asleep.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Ezra woke up and stretched while nearly giving out a moan of delight at how her body was feeling so refreshed. Hopping out of bed, her feet hit the ground with a bit of a thud which had Zeb growl in his sleep. Ezra made a face at him before walking out and realized she's wearing the same clothes from yesterday. Looking for her other outfit, Ezra dashed into the refresher and quickly got changed and redid her hair in the braid around the crown that she's comfortable wearing.

Tossing her bag back onto her bunk, she was walked towards the kitchen for a small snack to munch on when she spotted Sabine sitting there playing with one of her 'miracles.' Ezra stood awkwardly at the door as Sabine worked. "I don't bite." Sabine sat from the table. Not knowing what to say, Ezra sat down. The two sat in silence until Sabine put her tools down. "You didn't bother correcting us on your gender. Why?" The way Sabine said it, she demanded an answer. Ezra looked her straight in the eye with some fire in hers.

"I really don't need to answer that."

"It's called courtesy."

"Where I'm from it means someone either too nosey for their own good or they're trying to get something from you." Ezra said flatly.

"Well here secrets can endanger the crew or get you killed."

"You think I don't know that?" Ezra nearly yelled. "I know  _exactly_ what secrets do but for me, the secrets I have is kept not only for your safety, but mine as well. As for the gender thing? It's safer to be a boy on the streets than a girl by no stretch of the imagination. I didn't bother to correct you either since I thought that I would be leaving soon after. After I didn't it seemed like a good idea to keep the lie in place." Ezra felt really weary right now and had her head between her elbows with her hands locking above her head, not wanting to keep up with this. She didn't have the energy to do it this morning.

Sabine was about to give a retort when she saw how exhausted Ezra really was. Taking a good look at her, Sabine started mentally going over what she knows of her and realized it wasn't much. The two sat in silence before Sabine got up and left to go see Hera, leaving Ezra in the kitchen area.

Sabine went into the cockpit where Hera was under the one panel, fixing the wiring.

"Hera, can I talk to you?"

"Of course." Sabine shut the door and sat down with a sigh.

"What is it?" Hera asked.

"It's Ezra." Hera got an understanding look on her face.

"I just-I don't know why she would lie about all this. She said that it was easier to keep the lie in place but-"

"Sabine," Hera cut her off gently. "Ezra has been living on the streets for years probably and it's a hard life for anyone and even harder for a girl. I can't imagine what that girl went through while living on the streets but I do know that it wouldn't have been pretty. She had to learn to protect herself by any means so for Ezra I imagine that her best defense was closing off from everyone so she wouldn't get hurt and to only trust herself and probably learned that the heard way. Just don't push her too hard, ok?" Sabine had a defeated look on her face when Hera said that.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Ezra was humming as she mentally worked out what she was going to do today. The first thing was jedi training which she was excited about. The stories her father told her of the famous jedi knights had her making up stories and images in her head when she was younger and her pretending she was one in the house. She remembers her mother once saying  _"she gets it from you."_ Ezra remembers the words, but can't remember her voice anymore. Nearly skipping, she went outside and jumped on top of the  _Ghost_ and just stared into the sky.

She will admit that it was nice not having to hide herself anymore, but it worried her as well. It means that she's getting closer to the crew and she was terrified about that. The only person she was close to was Amara and remembers how well that turned out. She stared up into the sky until she heard Kanan calling for her. Getting up, she hopped off the ship and in front of the ramp where Kanan was waiting.

"So…" she stated awkwardly. "You called?" Kanan just stared down at her. Trying not to fidget, Ezra just stared back at him. After a few minutes of neither of them saying anything, Kanan was the first to speak.

"Let's get your training started." Ezra didn't look away before Kanan turned and went back into the ship with her following him. The two went into Kanan's room. Ezra looked around and saw that it was still pretty bare. She saw Kanan sit on the floor cross legged out of the corner of her eye and decided to copy him. Neither said anything as Ezra got comfortable.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Ezra was frowning when she left Kanan's room. All they did was meditation and him telling her to practice levitating from using the same techniques that meditation uses. Her eyes darkened slightly at this. She thought that Kanan was going to teach her, not just tell her what to do and leave her alone. Did he not want her? Ezra tried not to let it bother her as she went up to see Hera. As she made her way up, she was set wayward by Zeb. Her eyes widened at his sudden appearance.

"You thought you could hide this." Zeb said. Ezra raised an eyebrow.

"I was actually thinking of coming clean but Vizago kind of blasted those plans to dust." Ezra said. "Now excuse me, but I want to talk to Hera." Ezra nearly had to push her way past Zeb who didn't want to move. "Do you mind?" Ezra finally snapped. Zeb gave her an unimpressed look which Ezra brushed aside having had those looks all her life. "It's not like I didn't save your life or anything." She said sarcastically before giving an almighty push to move Zeb out of the way so she could talk to Hera.


	8. Getting in Trouble for Roughhousing

Ezra quietly knocked on the door when it opened and she took an uncertain step inside. Going in, she took a deep breath while berating herself over being scared about this.

"Yes Ezra?" Ezra chewed on her lip slightly before sitting in the co-pilot seat. She didn't say anything as she stared out into the black with stars twinkling back at her as she gathered her thoughts.

"I never thought I would get to see the stars." Ezra said breaking the silence. "Always thought I was grounded until you guys showed up and now there's a galaxy of possibilities." Ezra doesn't know why she's saying this, but she just wants to talk to someone who won't scorn her. "You didn't seem surprised when Vizago ousted me." It's been bothering her since that day and Ezra just wanted an answer. Hera looked at Ezra.

"I wasn't completely sure but there were little things that didn't add up. The way you held yourself sometimes was one." Ezra frowned at that, not really sure what to make of it. On one hand, Hera could've pestered her about it and on the other, she didn't which Ezra was thankful for.

"I'm actually surprised that you're not holding the fact that you saved Zeb over his head." Hera commented. Ezra internally frowned at the assumption. If she could she would but she doesn't exactly want a pissed off Lasat in the same vicinity as her, not to mention they share a room. She turned to Hera and gave her a flat look. "If I wanted to lord over the fact I saved Zeb's life I could. But I won't for a couple reasons and one is I'm not stupid enough to pick a fight with someone a lot bigger than me." She said coolly. "The other is one I'm keeping to myself." She said with a devilish grin. Hera merely sighed over this and let it go, knowing that she won't get anything more from Ezra.

"Anything new happening in Capital City I should know about?" Hera asked.

"Why what have you heard?" Ezra asked suspiciously.

"You do like to sneak around so you hear a lot more than I do in that regard." Ezra deflated a little. No one knew about her connections yet.

"Just rumours." Ezra said while staring into space.

"Rumours?" Hera asked with a raised tattooed eyebrow.

"Just heard some things from others and no one knows if it's true or not." She wasn't going to get the  _Ghost_ involved in her problems, especially if the Blood Callers were stirring up the trouble. Hera looked at Ezra in suspicion before giving up on the topic for now.

"How are you and Zeb getting along?" Hera asked. Ezra snorted.

"How well do Loth rats and Loth cats get along?" Ezra asked. Hera sighed again. Zeb and Ezra were so similar but also so different at the same time. Zeb was also much older than Ezra so you would think that he would be the mature one out of the two but growing up on the streets and without a family-and along with the security and protection a family came with-made Ezra grow up quickly and to hide her soft side as well.

"Just try to get along or at least don't destroy my ship." Hera asked. Ezra raised an eyebrow.

"What makes you think I'll start it?" She asked. Hera gave Ezra a look that she ignored with practiced ease.

"I do want to talk to you about something." Hera said. "I was going to call you up but you beat me to it."

"What is it?" Ezra asked, weariness creeping into her voice. This can't be good.

"What exactly happened on that Star Destroyer?" Ezra's face became closed off.

"Nothing I can't deal with." Ezra said with a look that said  _drop it._

"Ezra, as part of the team-"

"I won't talk about it, ok?" Ezra exclaimed while jumping out of her seat. "It's in the past so nothing to worry about." She stormed out of the cockpit with Hera giving a sigh. Ezra was still too defensive about the incident so something must have happened while she was on there. Ezra said something about a strip search and is now saying that she can deal with it. Hera looked out towards the black, watching the stars as they shone and twinkled while thinking about the dark hair teenager and the hell she's gone through.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Ezra was trying very hard not to kick something. She didn't want to talk about what happened, is that too much to ask for right now? Even if Kanan and Hera both said they won't kick her off (which is a good thing or else she'd have to go back to doing her old jobs which left her shivering. Not to mention Slyyth has been getting desperate to recruit her and was starting to creep her out), she's still not sure if they'll keep their words. Kanan said that he'll train her but it seems to her like he doesn't really want to do it. Letting out a weary sigh, Ezra climbed into the cargo hold and never did realize just how empty and big it was with nothing inside it. She did a couple circuits around the bay before a devilish smile crept onto her face. She always was trying to work on her stealth skills…

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Zeb was about ready to kill Ezra. She has not only been able to recruit Chopper into shocking him, but has also messed with his space waffles! Cracking his knuckles, Zeb went on to find the little Loth rat. He hasn't forgotten that she did save his life but that didn't mean she liked him that much. But something happened to make her a little less icy around him. Zeb has no idea what it was but was still a bit thankful for it anyway. Flashes of Kallus kept popping into his mind and sometimes Ezra's outburst would make its way into the images. Zeb's anger would heighten whenever that happened. But he was still going to strangle that girl for messing with his space waffles. Zeb stomped around the ship, looking for the small, dark haired teen. He didn't look up or else he would've seen Ezra covering her mouth with mirth dancing in her eyes.

Kanan hasn't called Ezra for training the past two days so Ezra decided to practice by herself in between messing with Zeb and sneaking around the  _Ghost_ and see how long she can get away with this. So far she hasn't been called out on it but she has a sneaking suspicion that Hera knows what she's doing. The fact that she's letting her has Ezra of two minds with this. One is that she's trying to bribe the trust from her. The other is that Hera is just letting her vent right now and is letting Ezra do it. If the latter's true, Ezra has no doubt that Hera will step in if she takes it too far. Ezra doubts that she will but it's nice to know that Hera is keeping an eye on her. It's a feeling Ezra hasn't had since her own parents and it gives her a slightly fuzzy feeling.

Swinging down into the kitchen, Ezra looked around for a bowl so she can do her exercises. She can do it with her bag and everything in the vents with her pushing it, but it's only for a short amount of time and if she has complete concentration on it. Ezra was trying to have it so it takes less concentration and utter focus to float the bowl and try to move it without touching it but it really wasn't going very well. Chopper came in while Ezra had the bowl floating slightly but it dropped when her concentration broke. "Karablast!" She swore as she winced at the sound of the bowl dropping onto the table.

Deciding to try one more time, Ezra focused on the bowl like she did last time but it wouldn't budge. Frowning, Ezra poured a bit more power into her connection. The bowl was shaking which was good, but it wasn't moving. She stole a glance at Chopper who had his one arm out. It didn't take her long to connect the dots.

"Chopper," Ezra said with a forced calm tone. "If you don't let go in five seconds, Hera is going to have to find another droid." Chopper snapped his other arms at her in outrage and threw the bowl at her while Ezra ducked. "CHOPPER!" Ezra roared as she chased the rust bucket around the ship. "Get back here you piece of scrap metal. Get out of my room!" She hollered.

She heard spraying and turned, finding Sabine spray painting her wall. "Hi Sabine." Ezra said. She looked at the wall. "I see you're painting again." Was there any room on her walls that wasn't already painted?

"Nothing gets past you kid." Ezra hates it when she gets called that and bristled slightly at the term. "What's with the racket anyway?" Sabine asked. Ezra started grumbling.

"Chopper." Sabine gave a small look of understanding at that and went back to her spray painting while Ezra went into her room…only to find Zeb sleeping in there and Chopper inside.  _'This can't be good,'_ Ezra thought as she looked on at the Lasat.

"You wake me, you die." Zeb said while keeping his eyes shut. Ezra had no issues with that but apparently Chopper did as he shocked Ezra who bit the inside of her cheek to keep quiet as her muscles seized. She gave the droid a death glare before heading towards her bunk. Chopper decided to try again but Ezra was ready this time and dodged the ball of electricity that went over her head…and hit Zeb. Zeb jerked and fell out of his bunk. Ezra had to admit it was funny but there's no way she'd show the Lasat that. She likes living, thank you very much. "It's his fault!" Ezra said while pointing at Chopper. One of her rules…if you can blame it on someone or something else, do it. "I don't care, I'm crushing you both!" Zeb growled. Ezra cocked an eyebrow at that as Chopper (the coward), quickly left the scene.

"Real nice manners you've got there." Ezra said while slipping into the Imperial accent by accident and crossing her arms.

Zeb gave her a dirty look and got back on his bunk. "Go sleep somewhere else!"

"Sorry roomie, no can do." Ezra chirped. It was  _fun_ annoying Zeb, if it's done in moderation of course. She climbed up onto her bunk and relaxed before her whole bunk came crashing down. As soon as she felt motion, Ezra jumped off the bunk and rolled onto the ground before wincing when she saw Zeb under it. Deciding to be a  _little_ nice, she lifted the bunk up slightly so the Lasat could get his arms under it and push it off.

Growling and snarling, Zeb stalked towards Ezra who was now backing towards the door. "It's not my fault!" Ezra opened the door quickly as Zeb took a swipe at her. "Tell that to my fist!" Ezra ran towards the cargo bay where she saw Kanan and jumped over the railing, looking for somewhere to hide. Kanan came right up to her which had Ezra jumping back. She heard Zeb roar and looked up before a big purple Lasat pounced on her.

Or tried to.

Ezra shrieked and dodged out of the way and when Zeb tried again, her instincts took over and crouched to make her a smaller target and did a force push unconsciously which had Zeb flying into the wall. Deciding to hide behind Kanan, Ezra peaked around her human shield and saw Zeb baring his teeth.

"You're gonna get it now runt!"

"That's  _enough_!" Ezra looked up and saw Hera looking at the two of them in anger.

"The kid blasted me into the wall!"

"I don't care  _who_ started it but I'm ending it. This is my ship you're wrecking and I want you both off it." Ezra gave Zeb a dirty look as she slowly walked up to Hera. Zeb shoved her which had the teen pushing down her instincts again and tried to keep her hands steady. "Hera, be reasonable!" Hera raised an unimpressed tattooed eyebrow. "This is me being reasonable." Ezra didn't say anything in all this not wanting any attention on her until Hera handed her a list.

"What's this?" Ezra asked in confusion.

"A market list. You two are going on a supply run."

"With him/her?" They both asked in outrage while pointing at each other. Hera just stared at them unflinchingly with an unimpressed look.

"The town of Kothal is two klicks to the south and don't even  _think_ about coming back without  _one_ meiloorun fruit. Clear?"

"Clear." They both muttered. Ezra kept her head slightly bowed while giving Zeb dirty looks.

"Ezra." Ezra looked at Kanan. "Blaster." Ezra stared at him while giving a look that said  _I'm not that crazy to give up my weapons._ "This is a market run, not a mission."

"What happens if I need to get out of a tight spot?" Ezra countered.

"You'll have Zeb." Ezra's eyes darkened at that but a look from Hera had her unhooking her blaster from her hip and gave it to Kanan while giving him a dirty look all the while.

"And the Q2."

"That one stays with me and I don't care what you say." Ezra said.

"You'll have your knife." Kanan held out his hand and Ezra saw that he wasn't kidding from the look in his eyes. He'll probably suspend training which is something Ezra doesn't want and can't afford not to have. Deciding to play it safe for now, she handed over the blaster but not before telling him, "If I do end up needing it I'm going to tell you 'I told you so.'" She turned on her heal and started walking towards Zeb who was waiting outside the ship and they started walking off. When it looked like Zeb was about to push her again she quickly scampered out of the way and gave Zeb a look while holding the list. When the two left, Kanan came up to Hera.

"Hopefully there won't be bloodshed." Kanan stated seriously. The whole crew knew that Ezra and Zeb didn't really get along that great but he was hoping that no one will die from this excursion. He was looking over at the wall where Ezra blasted Zeb into which had a big dent in the hull now. Hera sighed. "We can only hope for the best." Hera left to go to the cockpit while Kanan just stood there, staring at the dent. He walked up to it and put his hand on it, feeling the indentation that the Lasat left behind. He could understand Ezra's reaction, especially as there was a big Lasat jumping on you but to blast him? Kanan's mental picture of Ezra's childhood was getting a few miniscule pieces and none of them were painting a pretty picture so far. The fact that Ezra knew that she could do that made Kanan suspicious that she's done it before. He sighed, knowing that he needs to talk to the girl but had no idea how to. She shut down Hera pretty fast and if Hera (the one person Ezra was most comfortable with), couldn't get Ezra to talk, what hope would he have?


	9. Meiloorun Adventures

Ezra didn't even look at Zeb as they walked towards Kothal. Reading the list (while sounding out the words she didn't really know in her head), she mentally calculated what she'll grab and what Zeb would grab. Zeb plucked the list from her hands as she squawked. "I'll get the supplies while you look for the meilooruns." Ezra was about to retort when she stopped. Zeb would probably know where all the stalls are that he needs and left it at that. "Alright," she said with a shrug. As long as she doesn't have to read…

The two walked into town with Zeb heading towards some stalls with a purpose in mind while Ezra looked around. She wasn't exactly sure what meiloorun fruit looks like so she'll just ask around. With that plan in mind, Ezra walked around the market, looking like the casual shopper until, "Ezra, Ezra Bridger?" Furrowing her eyebrows in confusion, she slowly started to turn when her gaze set upon a white haired man with tan skin. Recognition went off in her head. "Mr. Sumar?" Ezra remembers him and his wife who would sometimes bring their small son over to play until her parents were taken away and never heard from them again. But trips from Kothal to Capital City were expensive for farmers who were barely scrapping a living so Ezra couldn't really hold it against them.

"Ezra, how you have grown. You look a lot like Mira"

"Well, that's what happens to children, they grow up." Ezra said before his second comment registered. She looked like her mom? Her mom was beautiful while Ezra was just plain looking, not to mention no one has mentioned her parents in years. Deciding to push the comment out of her head for now she looked around.

"Where's Peter?" Mr. Sumar had a solemn look.

"He died during that plague five years ago." Ezra nodded, remembering that sickness that infected the planet and went on a rampage. Hundreds died officially, but there were many more from the homeless, destitute and orphan population that perished. Ezra got lucky but Amara wasn't so lucky and got sick. Ezra begged for days trying to get funds to buy the medicine that could fight against the illness with no success so she had to do her last option: she made a deal.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Ezra said sincerely. Mr. Sumar leaned in closer so no one could overhear the two.

"When your parents disappeared I came and searched for you but couldn't find you." Ezra was stunned. Someone looked for her, tried to take her in.

"You wouldn't have found me." Ezra said. "I was hiding in the older part of the city where some of the run down houses were for shelter." Mr. Sumar nodded but his eyes still had a trace of sadness. "I do have a question though. Do you know anywhere that would sell meiloorun fruit?" Ezra asked while pronouncing it slowly. Mr. Sumar frown. "Meilooruns? They don't grow on Lothal."

"They don't?" Ezra felt like banging her head a few seconds later. "Of  _course_ they don't." She grumbled. Leave it to Hera to give them an impossible task. "You might have luck with an off world importer." Ezra cringed. Those prices were usually double or triple the amount of local food. Mr. Sumar just nodded when he saw Ezra's expression and knew that she was thinking of the price. "Well, thanks anyway." Ezra said while she started to walk away.

"Ezra," Ezra turned around. "Be careful will you?" Ezra nodded and left. She barely left five feet when she spotted an Imperial officer talking to some stormtroopers. Ducking behind a stall and grabbing her vibro knife, Ezra crept as close as she dared to the officer who-to her surprise-stopped at Mr. Sumar's stall. Ezra looked on the scene with confusion as his farm came up in the conversation and selling it to the Empire. When he refused, the officer got ugly and Ezra was ready to throw her knife when he left. Watching them leave with a suspicious eye, Ezra wasn't paying any attention when she knocked into Zeb. He had two large crates with one under each arm.

"I got everything but the meilooruns. Any luck?" Ezra couldn't help but scowl.

"No. And I doubt Hera meant for us to find any. Have to go to an off-world importer and with the prices they charge it's almost not worth it."

"Hera wanted one so we'll pay the extra credits."  _'Do we really have the credits to spare?'_ Ezra wondered. "Here." He carelessly tossed Ezra the one crate that she nearly dropped from the weight of it.

"Seriously?" Ezra said. As Zeb walked away, Ezra couldn't help but grumble, "you have got to be kidding me." She heaved it up but it blocked her view and nearly growled when she tried to lower it but it still wouldn't work. "Bloody, karking, kriffing thing!" Ezra punched out each word in frustration when she dropped it and stumbled backwards when she lost balance. She went to steady herself and knocked over a lid that had brightly coloured fruit. "Hey Zeb!" Ezra called out. She wasn't sure if these were it or not. "What?" Zeb nearly growled out. Ezra raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "Are these meilooruns?" She asked while gesturing towards the fruit. Zeb nodded and went up to the rodarion.

"How much for the whole crate?"  _'Slightly excessive,'_ Ezra thought. "I'm sorry but they're already sold."

"Well, maybe we can buy one from-" A stormtrooper slammed the lid back onto the crate. "The Empire?" Ezra finished.

The rodarion laughed. "Good luck with that." Ezra gave the rodarion a flat and unimpressed look as she started to formulate a plan in her mind. Grinning the grin that Zeb was starting to learn that meant nothing good, Ezra ran after the stormtrooper while dodging other Imperials until she hid behind some crates. She heard Zeb lumber beside her behind the taller crates as she stared at the yellow crate that held the meilooruns. It was on top of an Imperial transporter with stormtroopers around guarding their cargo. Ezra mentally counted them out before she ducked behind the crates again and grinned.

"What's got you smiling about?"

"The obvious answer to our problem," Ezra answered as she mentally started going over a plan.

"No." Ezra gave Zeb a look.

"Why not? It's not like we steal from the Empire all the time anyway." Ezra pointed out.

"So what's the plan then kid? You gonna use the force?" He asked in a mocking tone. Ezra wasn't going to until he said that.

"Yeah, why not?" She shot back. Her pride refused to let her back down from this. Poking her head above the crate and quickly looking around, Ezra closed her eyes so she could concentrate. Raising her hand, she could feel her face go lax as she could feel the force flow through her hand towards the crate which shook. Furrowing her eyebrows, Ezra twitched her hand so the crate moved, trying to get it to fall off and get the lid off. A slam had Ezra back to reality with Zeb laughing. Snarling at the Lasat, Ezra decided to do it the old fashion way and was gone before Zeb could say or do anything. Running up to a crate she tossed a small rock in the other direction before she skulked around the crate and ran towards the transport before crawling on her forearms and knees to get to the other side of the transport with the meilooruns on it. Grinning widely now, Ezra crawled up the side of the transport and stayed covered by the crate before lifting it up and grabbing a fruit.  _'Success!'_ Ezra crowed in her head. She was about to get down when she heard the clicks of blasters.

"You there, stop!" Ezra froze, before acquiescing to their request. Right when she closed the crate, one went flying towards the stormtroopers. Ezra looked at Zeb in disbelief.

"Run!" Zeb yelled.

"Are you kidding me?" Ezra snapped when she ran from the transport with Zeb right behind her.  _'There goes all the supplies. Hera and Kanan are going to kill us.'_ Ezra thought as they ran towards the market place. "You made me loose the rest of the supplies, we're even!" Ok, maybe Ezra did bring up the Kallus thing once. Or twice in jest. Not her fault the Lasat has no sense of humour.

"Even?! Please, I had everything under control!" Zeb grabbed her by the bag and Ezra was too startled to do anything. "Don't do that again," she growled at him. He climbed up the side of a building while holding onto her by the strap of her bag. Ezra looked down as a couple of stormtroopers came into the alley.

Ezra let out a screech as Zeb threw her to the top of the building. After flaying and landing hard, she shook her head before looking over the edge in time to see Zeb fall off the side of the building from a blaster shot. "Zeb!" Ezra cried out. Zeb took down the two stormtroopers as he landed.

"Keep going, I'll catch up with you!" With that, Zeb ran off. Ezra looked around and hit the ground when she felt the Force scream at her to  _drop._ Scrambling up Ezra took off running. It didn't take long for the stormtroopers to call in reinforcements.  _'Great, just what I need!'_ Ezra thought as she jumped to another building. She didn't even have her blasters to help!  _'As soon as I get back, I'm so telling Kanan I told you so!'_ Ezra didn't want to throw her vibro knife on the off chance that she won't be able to retrieve it and make herself completely defenseless. "Come on, come on,  _think_ Bridger!" She dodged another few blaster bolts and sprung on her legs low before doing a tumble to get past the two troops that were hiding from her.  _'I could_ really  _use Zeb's help right now.'_ Not that she'll ever tell the Lasat that. It'll make him even more insufferable.

Her ears pricked when she heard a familiar whine. Looking to the left she saw a TIE fighter coming. "Great,  _just_ what I need!" She complained. When she looked in the cockpit Ezra did a double take.  _"Zeb?"_ Zeb just smiled and waved without a care in the world. He turned the TIE fighter sideways so he was facing Ezra. Ezra decided now was a good time to swallow her pride as she dodged another blaster shot.

"Zeb, let me in!"

"If I let you in then you stop holding that grudge!" Really, he was bringing this up  _now_?

"Alright! Fine!" Ezra shouted over the engines.

"You need to say it!"

"Are you krifing  _kidding_  me?" Ezra screamed as she jumped to another building.

"Say the word kid…"

"Alright I'll stop holding that grudge!" She shouted. With those magical words the hatch popped open and Ezra dove head first in and crashed right on top of Zeb who promptly tossed her backwards. Rolling over and springing to her feet, Ezra shook her head before standing right beside Zeb.

"Do you even know how to fly this thing?" Ezra demanded.

"Probably better than you do."  _'Not the point here.'_ Ezra thought sourly as Zeb nearly crashed into a vendor.

"Pull up!" Ezra shouted as she yanked the one joy stick and accidentally hit the blaster trigger. Fruit splattered all over the window in different shades of yellow and green which made Ezra put off food for a while.

"Now look what you've done!" Zeb growled at her.

"Me? You're the one that nearly flattened the market square." Ezra countered. She tried to look through the splattered window.

"Gain altitude." Ezra's voice took on the tone of when she would lead a small raiding party against the Imperial shipments that were too big for one person to handle.

"I know."

"Zeb," Ezra's voice took on a warning tone with that. They continued to fly for a while with Ezra insisting that they were still too low. She didn't hear Zeb complaining when she had the feeling in her bones again. "We need to turn," she whispered. The urgent feeling to turn got louder by the second until she yanked the controls out of Zeb's grip while yelling, "turn!" They both looked behind and saw the huge spiral rock structure that they nearly crashed into. Zeb had a look of shock on his face. "How did you know?"

"I don't know." Ezra answered honestly. "I just…knew." Deciding that since she was the smaller one, Ezra went out to clean the front of the TIE so they could see after finding a couple rags in the back to Ezra's complete surprise. One interesting experience later and Ezra was back in the cockpit. "Think we should tell Hera?" Ezra asked. "It is starting to get late."

"Yeah." Zeb said with a nervous chuckle.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Hera decided that it was nice and quiet with both Ezra and Zeb gone and not causing any racket. Going down the hall she spotted Sabine painting in Ezra and Zeb's room.

"You do know this isn't your room." Sabine had a completely unapologetic look on her face when she shut most of the door on Hera.

"I was inspired." Chopper showed her what he did to Ezra's bunk and wondered what the slightly unhinged teen would do to the droid when she comes back. "Besides, it was Ezra's idea." Not completely true but Ezra did say that she could come in and paint if only to get rid of some of the gray that was in the room. Hera just sighed when Sabine closed the door before she could say anything else.

"It could be worse," she mused to herself. "Could be my room." She tracked down Kanan who was sitting in the small lounge playing dejarik against Chopper. A few moves later and Chopper was whirling with beeps of victory. Kanan turned the board off.

"It's nice and quiet without the kids running around."

"It is." Hera's face fell at that. "I just feel bad about sending-"

"Them on a wild meiloorun chase? I wouldn't worry. Besides, it'll give Ezra and Zeb some time to work out their issues."

"I do hope you're right."

_"Spectre four to Ghost."_

"Right on que." Hera said. "Go ahead spectre four."

 _"Right, well…we've had a bit of a problem here."_ Hera had an amused look on her face.

"I thought you might say that. Look, don't worry about the meilooruns-"

 _"Yeah, about that,"_  Kanan suddenly had a bad feeling about this. Ezra was sounding guilty about something.  _"You see, we found some, then lost them, then we found them again-"_

 _"Just cut to the chase kid."_ The sound of a TIE fighter went over the comm putting Hera and Kanan on alert.

"Wait what am I hearing?" Kanan demanded.

 _"Yeah, about that…"_ If Kanan could see her, Ezra had a sheepish look on her face.

 _"You see…we um…we stole a TIE fighter."_  Kanan had an outraged look on his face and exploded.

_"You WHAT!"_

Both Ezra and Zeb cringed. "He's taking it better than I thought." Ezra looked at Zeb like he was crazy.

_"Get rid of it."_

"Do we have to?" Ezra and Zeb whined. Ezra just wants to be able to fly it and shoot things, Kallus with a nice shiny target on him would be perfect. Ezra was snapped out of her lovely daydream by Kanan.

 _"At least tell me you disabled the locator beacon."_ Whoops. Never thought of that, Ezra admitted in her head.

"Of course we did,"  _'You're digging us a deeper grave Zeb,'_ Ezra thought as she went under the dash.

"It's the red one, no wait, the blue." Zeb whispered.

"Which one?" Ezra said in exasperation.

 _"It's the red_ and  _the blue."_ Kanan said in irritation. Ezra said nothing as she quickly disabled the beacon as Kanan lectured them.  _"Stealing a TIE gives us unwanted attention. Rondevous with us at Shadow point two. Fly straight there and do NOT make any stops and don't, do_ anything. _"_ Ezra cringed at how furious Kanan sounded. It was her fault, she knows it is with her pride wanting to prove Zeb wrong.

"On our way, spectre four out." Ezra let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"That went well." She said sarcastically. "You know which way we're supposed to go?" She asked.

"No idea." Zeb replied cheerfully. Ezra stayed quiet for a while.

"Hey Zeb?" She asked quietly. Zeb turned slightly in his seat to show he was listening. "Did you have any siblings?"

Zeb froze at the question. Whenever someone wants to bring up his past it's always marred by the fall of his planet. He remembers the fall of Lasan clearly in his mind, remembering the slaughter of his family. "No." Ezra just nodded and went back to staring out the window. "I had a little sister once." Zeb nearly whipped around in his seat at that but Ezra refused to say anything else.

"Do you at least have the coordinates for this rondevous point?" Ezra asked. Zeb just nodded and quietly imputed them into the system. Ezra was berating herself. Why did she let it slip?  _'Maybe you want someone you can confide in.'_ A small traitorous voice in her head said. Ezra pushed it away for now but she knew Zeb was lying about having any siblings. It was one of the first things she learned when she started fending for herself.  _'They probably all died in that massacre,'_ She thought.

"Coordinates are set." Zeb's voice brought Ezra out of her thoughts. She was about to say something before she saw something coming from the horizon. "What's that?" She asked the Lasat.

"Looks like smoke." She mentally calculated where they were and her stomach was sinking rapidly.

"I think I know where it's coming from. Let's go check it out, please." She looked at Zeb. Zeb couldn't look away from the pleading blue eyes. "Ah karablast," Zeb muttered. He flew the TIE towards the smoke and her last bit of hope just shriveled up and died when she saw the burnt out homestead. Zeb saw the sadness in her eyes and wondered who these people were for the kid who doesn't care about anyone to plead for him to check it out. "Friends of yours?" He asked. "Of my parents." She admitted. Zeb looked at the navigation computer. "There's a convoy of troop carrier transport heading north-west of here." Ezra's eyes dimmed even farther. These people were one of the last links to her parents that didn't have anything tarnished against them. Zeb saw the look in her eyes. "Ah karablast."

"What's the worst that can happen?" Ezra asked lightly.

"We both wind up dead." Zeb deadpanned.

"Besides that." Ezra said while mentally rolling her eyes. When they caught up to the transport, Zeb contacted them.

"Attention transport, this is Commander Meiloorun." Ezra smacked him for that.

"Meiloorun, seriously?" She hissed at him. Zeb shushed her which nearly made her hit him again.

"There's a report of Rebel activity in your sector, reduce speed."  _"Acknowledged Commander." 'These people are idiots.'_ Ezra thought.

"Are you sure about this kid?"

"Just get me in close." Ezra nearly snapped at him as she climbed out of the cockpit and on top of the craft and closed the lid. She won't admit it but she was terrified that she would fall off as she waved her arms wildly around trying to catch herself so she wouldn't fall. As soon as Zeb started going in over the transport she needed, Ezra took a deep breath and jumped off, flying backwards onto the transport and only stopped when she banged against the gun torrent. "Ok, that hurt," Ezra gasped out as her back protested in pain and crawled onto her knees before she felt the shift on the transport. Looking down, she noticed they were going faster.  _'Kriff! Thought it'd take longer!"_ Ezra swore in her head. She looked down the one side before crawling to the other and saw Mr. Sumar, his wife and someone who was probably a hired hand.

"Mr. Sumar!" Ezra yelled over the wind. Mr. Sumar looked up and was shocked to see Ezra on top of the transport.

"Ezra!"

"I'll get you out in a minute!" She saw the control panel and laid on her stomach before trying to reach. "Karablast, I hate being short." She groused as she tried to reach again.

"You'll never reach it!" Mr. Sumar yelled.

"Not helping!" Ezra yelled back. She decided to try unlocking it a different way. Closing her eyes, Ezra sought out the control she was looking for and waved her hand unlocking it. Ezra smiled when she heard the metal release.  _'I knew I'd get the hang of it.'_

"Mr. Sumar lift up your hands and I'll unlock the binders!" All three lifted their hands as Ezra quickly undid the binders. "You're gonna have to jump!"

"But we're moving too fast!" Mr. Sumar protested.

"Do you  _want_ to stay prisoners or wind up dead?" Ezra asked. Looking at each other, all three former prisoners jumped. They hit the ground harshly and rolled before stopping. Ezra did a frantic search for them until she saw Mr. Sumar waving.

Letting out a breath she didn't know she was holding, Ezra stood up and promptly ducked. Twisting her body as the stormtroopers came on top of the transport, Ezra looked around and saw no cover. Clutching her vibro knife, Ezra looked at the three stormtroopers before jumping to the middle transport. She heard the guns go off and turned to see them blasting into the fields where Mr. Sumar was. "No!" Ezra felt helpless when Zeb came back and started shooting at the gun.

_"That gun is gonna be a problem, this bird has no shields."_

"Working on it! Ezra said as she jumped to the last transport and vaulted over the crates. Ducking again, she noticed a familiar crate. "Hello there." Grabbing two meilooruns and stuffing them into her bag, Ezra felt how heavy they were and started chucking them at the bucketheads, pleased that it kept them off balance and one fell and their blaster went off which tossed the one to the ground. Ezra tried not to laugh at the sight. She was about to throw another one when shots came from the side and made her nearly loose her balance when the fruit exploded and covered her in the juice.

Still trying to regain control of her balance, Ezra flung forward onto the crate while gripping it with white knuckles. She looked forward and saw the one buckethead jump onto the transporter with the other troop. Kicking the one and summersaulting over him, Ezra backed up and was against the gun torrent. Looking around frantically, Ezra ducked behind the gun and grabbed a wrench before putting it in the nozzle of the gun.

She was about to stand up when the whole vehicle shook and Ezra went over the side edge where there were no handles to grab onto. She hung precariously at the edge of the transport, desperately trying to hang on and get a hold on the metal. The only reason why she hasn't fallen off yet is because of her gloves that have grips on the palms but even with that she's still slipping. Her arms shook as she was trying to haul herself up. She howled in pain when a stormtrooper stepped on her hand and grinded it under the heel of his boot.  _'Hand is defiantly broken,'_ Ezra thought grimly as she got hauled up none too gently.

She was forced onto her knees when a stormtrooper walked towards her with his blaster ready and pointing at her head.

Ezra glared at the stormtrooper when she heard the whispers again. It whispered about how easy it would be to snap his neck for daring to harm innocent people she knew that's done nothing to incur the wrath of the Empire. Ezra knew how to do it since she's done it before so what's stopping her? She looked up with emotionless eyes.

Nothing.


	10. Never Get Your Hand Crushed

Ezra's eyes darkened as the thought became more and more amiable when TIE fire disrupted everything. Ezra kicked the buckethead holding her and threw her knife with as much force as she could muster at the one that was going to shoot her. The stormtrooper dropped with the hilt of Ezra's knife sticking out of the armour and Ezra wrenched her knife out of the armour not caring if the electrified edges did more damage as she freed her knife with blood coating it and quickly put it in its sheath making a note to clean it later.

She saw Zeb come back for another pass and Ezra saw the whole TIE turn upside down with the Lasat hanging out of the cockpit. Reaching up, Ezra waited for Zeb to take her off and was swept off the transport. A flash of pain went through Ezra's arm as her vision went white with pain and couldn't help the scream of pain escape her from the jolt.

"Let go!" Ezra demanded as blood drained from her face from the pain while trying to get Zeb to let go of her hand. Zeb merely pulled and grabbed her forearm instead. The whiteness started to fade from her vision but Ezra could feel her hand throbbing in pain. She looked down and couldn't help but ask, "how are you flying this thing?" Looking straight up Ezra saw Zeb controlling the joy sticks with his feet. She felt the TIE turning back around and fell right on the Lasat. She cried out when her hand got touched and quickly got off Zeb.

Ezra cradled her broken hand close to her chest as she tried to push away the pain with little success. Gritting her teeth, Ezra came up to beside Zeb who was looking at her in concern, especially that middle finger of hers that looked completely bent and dislocated. Ezra took a few calming breaths to straighten out her thought process before looking around. She couldn't help but grin at the fact that they stuck it to the Empire today and she learned that someone actually wanted her. She looked at Zeb. "Thanks," Ezra said quietly. "I guess I owe you one." Ezra takes debts very seriously. "Let's just say we're eternally even." Ezra couldn't help the surprise that came over her face when he said that. Just like that? Some confusion made its way onto her face at that and couldn't understand it.

"You alright?" Ezra swallowed.

"I'm fine." Zeb gave her a look that he'd believe that bantha's could fly first before believing Ezra. "My hand really hurts." She relents.

"Not surprised especially with the way that finger of yours is looking." Ezra didn't have to reply so she didn't.

"I did have siblings." Zeb said suddenly. If Ezra was willing to share a piece of her past without having it pried from her, Zeb decided he could return the courtesy. At least it was only the two of them in here. "Two older brothers and a sister. I was the youngest of the lot. They were always teasing me about something or other but they always came through for you. Y'Shol, Xemih and Serea." Zeb had a small smile as he thought of his siblings and the good times they had. Ezra was quiet and didn't really know what to say to that.

"Amara. Her name was Amara." They were both silent until Ezra looked around, remembering that they were in a stolen TIE fighter.

"So what are we doing about the TIE?" Ezra asked. Zeb gave her a look that had her laughing. This is going to be  _fun!_

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

"How's the hand kid?" Zeb asked as they were walking back to the  _Ghost._ Ezra looked at it and grimaced. Zeb saw the look on her face. "That well eh?" Ezra wasn't even going to try and get the glove off yet. She didn't want to destroy the glove but if it won't come off it might be her only choice so her hand won't get any further damage.

"Where do you think Mr. Sumar will go?" Ezra asked Zeb after a while. Zeb had a small thoughtful look. "He might head to Tarkintown or to Kothal." Ezra nodded absently at that when the  _Ghost_ came into view. She could see that Kanan and Hera were waiting on the ramp with Kanan being more than a little agitated.

"One meiloorun as ordered," Zeb said with a bit of flourish.

"Thank you," Hera replied with a smile. Zeb gave a sideways look to Ezra who was still hiding her hand from view.

"Forget about the fruit, where's the TIE?" Kanan demanded. Ezra and Zeb's acting skills were now on display.

Ezra looked forlorn and upset while Zeb looked disappointed. "Right. Well, we crashed it."

"On purpose!" Ezra added quickly when she saw Hera and Kanan's look. "We didn't want it to fall back into Imperial hands." Ezra flashed a fake smile at them and was imploring them to believe the story. Kanan contemplated it before grinning.

"Now that's what I like to hear." Hera and Kanan turned to go back onto the ship when Zeb said, "How's the hand kid?" Ezra flushed in embarrassment at the mentioned of her mangled hand. She hid it behind her while Hera and Kanan whipped around and looked at her.

"What happened?" Hera demanded. Ezra gave them a stubborn look and said nothing.

"Ezra, what happened to you hand?" Kanan said.

"It's not too serious." Ezra said. Zeb snorted at that, remembering her screaming at him to let go of her hand and the swelling against the glove from the crushed bones.

"Kid, you're gonna need the bone knitter to use that hand again." Kanan reached behind Ezra and ignored her protest when he grabbed her forearm. The hand in question was swollen even with the glove on and Kanan could see one of her fingers were badly bent out of shape.

"Inside." Kanan's tone brokered no room for any argument from Ezra, not that she wanted to right now and felt miserable. All the adrenaline from earlier was leaving, causing her to stumble and nearly fell if Kanan didn't catch her. Her legs were burning and shaking from all the running and jumping she did and knew she had a few bruises on her back from crashing into the gun torrent. Ezra sat near the table and waited for Kanan to come back. She was just staring at the table, lost in thought and jumped when Kanan came back in with a machine in one hand and a towel with something wrapped in it in the other. He sat down beside her with the small machine that Ezra had never seen before and tilted her head in curiosity.

"This is the bone knitter." Kanan explained when he saw the girl's curious look. "It's going to speed up the healing process and repair anything that got crushed. We don't have anything to help with the pain unfortunately so you're going to have to do it the old fashion way."

"That would be my whole hand that hurts," Ezra muttered as she tried not to think of the no pain medication. She looked up and gave Kanan a look.

"By the way, I told you so."

"Do you have to bring that up now?"

"Yes." Kanan didn't reply and just held out his hand and waited for Ezra to give hers. Seeing no other option, she sighed and held out her hand while waiting for the pain to come.

"What exactly did you do to get this?" Kanan asked as he started removing the glove. "No cutting the glove." Ezra said when she saw him reach for a tool. "It's going to be painful then," Kanan warned. Ezra had a stubborn expression on her face. She wasn't getting rid of her gloves if she can help it. Kanan sighed in exasperation and started to carefully take of the glove while trying to ignore the flinches of pain. "You didn't answer my question."

"Bucketheads take offense when you're hanging over the ledge of a transport and not fall off at full speed." Kanan's hands stilled at that.

"And why were you on an Imperial transport?" Kanan asked in a forcibly calm voice. Ezra could hear  _danger! danger!_ going off in her head at that tone. Deciding that being honest will be the only way to get Kanan to trust her (and hopes that he will show some trust to her), she decided to go with the truth.

"Because Zeb and I past a farm that was destroyed and I knew the people there that were being taken away on the transport convoy. They've done nothing against the Empire and their home, everything was destroyed." Kanan eased off the rest of the glove as Ezra hissed in pain. Her hand was swollen with blotches of purple, blue and black forming everywhere. Ezra didn't look away but was staring at it in a strange fascination. Taking the towel that had ice wrapped in it, Kanan gently placed it on the back of the Ezra's hand that jerked back and cradled it against her chest. "That hurt!"

"It's going to hurt even more if I don't get that swelling down. If I don't get it down then your hand is going to heal wrong and you'll have a crippled hand." Ezra was silent. She couldn't afford a crippled hand but for kriff's sake, the ice  _hurt._ Ezra looked at Kanan who was waiting. She slowly extended her hand back out. Kanan was about to put the ice on when he heard her say, "you might want to hold onto my arm because it will jerk again." Kanan gently held Ezra's forearm and as soon as the ice touched her skin, Kanan's grip became iron when Ezra tried to jerk her hand away on reflex. He saw her other hand in a fist with white knuckles and her trying not to make a sound through her locked jaw.

"Ezra, relax."

"Kind of hard when your hand hates you." She replied through clenched teeth.

"Have you ever broken anything before?" Kanan asked in curiosity. Ezra shook her head.

"Sprain, yes. Crack, yes. Broken? Never. And I hope it never happens again." Kanan took the ice off and saw that the swelling was starting to go down even farther.

"When the swelling leaves I'm going to need Hera's help."

"What for?" Ezra asked with dread growing.

"I need to realign your finger." Ezra nearly went white at the thought of her one of her finger getting realigned. Sure she's cracked ribs before and other bones but she's never been bad enough for the bone knitter. Ezra does remember that it speeds up the healing process but it's painful.  _'I must be loving punishment today,'_ she thought bitterly. There was one good thing that came out of today. _'At least Mr. Sumar got away.'_

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

After Kanan left to go get Hera (and with strict instructions to not move), Ezra looked around the room before her gaze turned back to her mangled hand and winced. The stormtrooper's boot did more damage than she thought and looked at her middle finger that was completely bent the wrong way while the others were merely sore and swollen with coloured patches. She looked up when she heard Kanan come back in with Hera who had some bandages with her. Kanan sat to the right of Ezra and had her place her arm on the table to stabilize it.

"It's a very good thing I'm not left handed." Ezra commented as Kanan inspected her middle finger.

"I'm just sorry we don't have anything to help with the pain," Hera said in frustration. It was a lower priority on what they needed and thankfully wasn't on the list for today or else Ezra would probably try to tear Zeb's head off but they'll need to go and get the supplies again since Zeb lost all of it and Hera decided that it would be a good idea to get some of that medication, just in case. Kanan finished explaining to Ezra what he needed to do. Ezra had a determined look on her face but her eyes held in fear of what was about to happen. Kanan nodded to Hera who immediately went to Ezra's other side in case the teenager tries to completely throw back her body to get away from the pain.

"Just do it." Ezra said while taking a deep breath. Hera held Ezra's forearm while Kanan worked on her finger. Ezra couldn't help but scream in pain when her middle finger got put back in the joint with a sickening pop. Pain she can handle no problem for the most part, but that  _hurt_ like nothing else.  _'Not to self, never dislocate anything again,'_ she thought to herself as reflexive tears sprang to her eyes from the pain as Hera rubbed her back in comfort. Ezra's back straightened up and she jumped at the contact but didn't shy away from it after a few seconds as it gave her something to focus on other than Kanan murdering her hand. Ezra shut her eyes as she tried to shut out the pain as Kanan finished putting her fingers back into alignment.

She heard the whirling of the bone knitter before she felt her hand heating up. The heat felt nice for the first few minutes as Kanan carefully manoeuvred the machine around Ezra's hand to help slowly heal the bones. He heard Ezra's nails scratching the table and knew that the pain was getting more and more uncomfortable as it healed the bones. "Stop, stop, stop!" Ezra yelled as the heat was starting to get too much to bear. It felt like her nerves were on fire. "Nearly done Ezra, almost done." Hera reassured her but Ezra shook her head wanting Kanan to stop. As soon as Ezra heard the machine shut off, she wanted to snatch her hand away but Kanan wouldn't let go. "Hera." Hera handed Kanan the bandage and he carefully wrapped Ezra's middle and ring finger together to keep them stable and so the middle finger doesn't pop out again before wrapping her hand tightly. As soon as Kanan was done, he looked up and saw the girl shaking and her face was completely white.

"I'll stay with her." Hera said. Kanan nodded and left the room. He was barely out the door when he got crowded by Zeb and Sabine.

"Is the kid alright?" Zeb asked.

"She'll be fine in a few hours but her hand will take about a week to completely heal." Sabine nodded but still looked troubled while Zeb grunted and left. "Yes Sabine?" Sabine looked like she was about to ask him something but then changed her mind. "Nothing." With that, she left.

Ezra and Hera stayed in the room after Kanan left.

"Hera?" Ezra said. She just thought of something.

"Yes Ezra?"

"Can I use the refresher?" Hera gave her a questioning look and Ezra looked slightly embarrassed. "A meiloorun fruit exploded in my hand and showered me in the juice." Hera got a look of understanding on her face.

"You'll have to cover your hand and I can help if you need-"

"No it's alright!" Ezra said quickly. The situation was mortifying enough and the girl didn't need anything else on top of that.

"If you need any help just let me know." Ezra just nodded and left the common room looking a bit better but she still held her hand against her chest that was wrapped in a white bandage.

"How's the hand?" He got a glower as an answer before she went to her room. When she went in colour out of the corner of her eye caught her attention.

"Sabine!" She only had to wait about a minute for Sabine to come.

"Yes Ezra?" Ezra raised an eyebrow and pointed to the painting.

"What is that?" She asked calmly.

"You did say you wanted more colour in the room."

"I didn't mean to make me look like a fool!" Ezra turned back to the picture. "Although, Zeb  _does_ look even worse," she mused. "Besides, how did you know?" Sabine raised an eyebrow. "You really have to ask?" Ezra's expression became murderous. "Where is that little rust bucket? As soon as I can take this off he's going to be scrap metal!" Sabine was trying not to laugh. Seeing Ezra all riled up like this makes her think of a kitten with its fur all puffed up.

She looked at the bandage on the younger girl's hand. "How bad is it?" Ezra gave a sullen look. "I think I'd rather have amputated it, less painful." Sabine gave a small wince since she heard Ezra shouting and screaming at Kanan to stop. She broke her arm once and had to use the bone knitter but the biggest difference was that she had pain medication, Ezra didn't have that luxury. "When does the bandage come off?"

"Hera said in about two or three days, depending on how well the bones have healed." Ezra said with a shrug.

"If you want I can make it colourful."

"Suit yourself." Ezra didn't care either way really but if it made Sabine happy, then why not?

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Ezra tossed and turned and couldn't get comfortable let alone sleep. Her hand was itchy but Hera was extremely strict about leaving the bandage on even after getting the juice out of her hair. Not wanting to face her wrath, Ezra complied. It was extremely awkward for her but Ezra was nothing but stubborn and didn't want any help so it took her a lot longer to get clean with one hand staying completely dry but it was worth it even though her damp hair was cold now. She couldn't hide in the vents right now so she went down to the nose torrent and sat there for a while, mulling things over.

She still feels like an outsider to be honest with herself, one that was taken on by pity and Ezra loathes pity of any kind. So she just blurted out about Amara to Zeb. She needed someone to talk to and Zeb seemed to fit at the time. Sabine, she's not too sure about especially about her past and Kanan…Ezra was stumped about the man. He comes off as cold but he does let his soft side show once in a while which is nice but Ezra wants to know more about the man who is going to teach her about the force.

She could feel her ice cold heart starting to thaw which scares her. She doesn't want to be vulnerable she never could afford to be. Always a strong front for everyone she knows everyone she meets but now…she doesn't know what to think and to her that's a terrifying thought. She brought her knees up as she stared out into the stars. Maybe soon but for now, the crew has to keep earning her trust and in return, she'll trust them little by little.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Ezra jumped when she felt someone touch her shoulder and swung her arm out only for it to be caught.

"Ezra!" Ezra shook her head to get the fuzziness out of her head and looked up, only to see Kanan's expression and looked at her arm she swung. It was the same one that just got repaired the night before.

"Sorry?" She asked, not sure what she's supposed to say.

"We've been through this Ezra." Ezra flushed slightly, remembering the scolding's she keeps getting for sleeping everywhere on the ship except her own bed.

"Couldn't sleep." She held up her hand that had its white bandage all colourful now. Sabine was gleeful when Ezra said she can do what she wants and immediately got her paints. Playing guinea pig for right now, Ezra let Sabine play with the bandage and watched her put different designs on it. Ezra absently watched the older girl colour it until there was almost no white left.

"You let Sabine paint it?" Kanan asked in surprise.

"Yes, so?" Ezra snipped.

"Nothing, I was just surprised."

"Do I get any training today?" Ezra asked. Kanan shook his head.

"Not until that hand of yours heals." Ezra's face fell slightly at that. It would've been a good distraction for her from her hand and her foolishness.

"What about getting the supplies?" Ezra was starting to grasp at straws.

"The stormtroopers will be looking for you." Ezra gave him a flat look.

"I think I'll be fine." Kanan wanted to growl in exasperation. Ezra is as stubborn as a hard headed bantha when she gets an idea in her head and will not change it.

"Be ready in fifteen minutes." Ezra was gone like a shot after that. She ran to her shared room and grabbed her bag and dashed into the refresher. Stripping off her orange jumpsuit, she pouted when she realized that she can't put on any pants and will have to go with a dress which is more impractical but she'll put up with it until her hand can full function again.

Taking out a dark blue one that goes to her knees with sleeves that start to slightly flare out at the elbows and covers her hands (which is a plus in Ezra's eyes), and has a small v-neck. Throwing it on, Ezra frowned at the fact that her hair is down and didn't like that. After brushing it to get the knots out, Ezra carefully using her bandaged hand to hold her hair back to replace her good hand, Ezra manipulated her hair elastic in her good hand so she can loop it around her hair and tried again but stopped it before all her hair went through so her hair was in a low bun. Satisfied, Ezra left the refresher before she realized she can't get her shoes on.

Grumbling in her head and realizing she has no choice, she grabbed her bag and her shoes before leaving the room…and knocking into Kanan. "You ready to go?" Ezra bit her lip. "I need help with my shoes." It pained her to say that and made her feel useless. Kanan's expression softened when he saw the teen's embarrassment at the fact she can't get her shoes on. "Come here." Ezra followed Kanan into his room and Ezra hesitated slightly at the door before cautiously going inside. Kanan took a good look at the girl and nearly did a double take when he saw the dress. "Didn't think you liked dresses." Ezra shrugged. "It's clothing, that's all I see it as." Kanan nodded as he got Ezra's shoes on her feet. "It's time to go. Hera's coming with us."

"And leaving Zeb and Sabine here to do who knows what to the ship?" Ezra asked in shock. Kanan gave her a look.

"Chopper will be here."

"Chopper will probably help dismantle the ship." Kanan didn't bother disputing that knowing it was probably true.


	11. Consequences of Actions

When Ezra and Kanan made their way down towards the cargo hold, Zeb and Sabine were already there waiting.

Sabine had a look of surprise on her face while Zeb had a slightly slacked jaw that the little loth rat he's come to know would even  _own_ one of these…dresses! It didn't fit his mental image with the kid and was trying to think of something that would compute with the image of Ezra he did know who was snarky and would only wear her flight suit to this person who was wearing a dress that showed her body. "Since when do you own or wear  _that_?" Zeb asked while gesturing to the dress. It seemed that the word 'dress' wasn't in the Lasat's vocabulary. Ezra just gave a small smirk. "Why, haven't you ever seen one of these before?" She asked with a small purr and grinned while doing a small twirl that had Zeb sputtering in outrage and denying that yes he has seen dresses before. It never crossed his mind that Ezra would even  _have_ a dress since she didn't act like the type that would typically wear them.

Sabine rolled her eyes at the immaturity of it all (even if she did think Ezra looked nice in it no one would ever get her into a dress), as Ezra and Kanan stepped off the ship.

Hera had a surprised look on her face when Kanan and Ezra came off the ship and towards her. "Why is everyone surprised I have a dress?" Ezra complained as they walked to Kothal. "I didn't take you as a dress girl." Hera commented. She didn't think anyone would suspect Ezra to have one. "It's clothing." Ezra said as if it was the most obvious answer ever. Hera sent questioning looks to Kanan who just shook his head and told her in a look that said  _don't ask_.

The three went into the town when Hera decided to go get the medical supplies and Kanan would get everything else. Ezra wanted to know what she could do as she hated not doing anything.

"Don't get into any fights and stay with Kanan in the market square." Hera stressed the last bit and hoped that the teenager would comply. Ezra absently nodded as she looked around while Hera sighed.  _'Probably the best answer I'm going to get out of her,'_ she thought. Ezra looked around Kothal and remembered when she was here yesterday. She was saddened that she won't get to see Mr. Sumar's stall anymore and went about wandering close to Kanan since he gave her strict instruction to not stray too far from him to reiterate Hera's instructions.

Kanan made sure that Ezra was in sight or could at least sense her being not too far away. He paid for the supplies and watched Ezra wander around the market square looking at the different things and picking stuff up that caught her interest. Hera wouldn't be back for a while, grabbing the more hard to find supplies i.e. the pain medicine that Kanan has a feeling that they're going to have to stay stocked up on.

Ezra was looking at some of the different stalls when she heard scampering feet run past her. She furrowed her eyebrows before she noticed what exactly she was seeing. A young twi'lek was running into the one alley with about three other children all hiding there while trying to stay out of sight. She instantly knew that they were loth rats from the way they were acting and trying to hide from everyone. Ezra looked at the dirty children trying to hide in the shadows of the alley and couldn't help but remember herself when she was first out on the streets. People who knew her and would smile and talk to her before her parents left, would now sneer and brush her off like she was beneath the dirt of their shoes. Remembering what she had, Ezra grabbed the credits in her bag that she would hoard and went to the nearest yogan seller.

"How much for a dozen yogans?" Ezra asked softly while glancing back at the children. Ezra didn't bat an eye at the price that she was sure was more than double of what it should be but Ezra didn't even blink and handed the merchant the money before walking away with twelve yogans. She crossed the market square towards the alley, unaware that Kanan was watching her before having to go back to dealing with the merchant. The children all scurried deeper into the alley, forcing Ezra to leave the market square.

"Hey, I'm not here to hurt you." She said softly before stretching out her bad hand with the fruit towards the youngest (who looked to be about two but was probably four years old), when they stopped running away. One of the older ones got defensive at her and stared her right in the eye.

"What do you want?" He demanded. Honesty was the only thing that works on loth rats as they all develop a sixth sense for it.

"Believe it or not I was in your position for seven years and I know that you can't be picky about who gives you what. That being said I want nothing in return. Don't think of this as charity or pity. Take it from someone who was in your position until very recently. There's a dozen yogans here so I know that you'll put these to good use." Ezra handed them the whole bag and the one boy snatched it before Ezra could pull it back. Ezra has seen that happen with richer merchants taunting little loth rats with food and before they could grab it, it would be cruelly placed out of reach. Ezra gave a small smile before getting up to leave.

"You're the infamous loth rat aren't you?" One of them stated. Ezra merely raised an eyebrow and said nothing. She knew that she was somewhat famous on Lothal and especially in Capital City for her…adventures if one could call them that and new loth rats were warned to never get on her bad side. That was one of the things that the newer loth rats learned very quickly.

"What does that have to do with anything?" She didn't answer yes but she defiantly didn't say no. It was a street way of saying yes in a roundabout way so they would draw their own conclusions.

"What happened to you?" The oldest suddenly asked.

"I found someone who doesn't care I'm a loth rat." She said honestly.

"And your hand?" Ezra looked at it and shrugged before saying offhandedly, "Stormtroopers. Fruit. You know the deal."

Ezra went to walk away before a deeper voice was heard from further in the alley. "Pitying loth rats are we?" Ezra stopped and turned to the bulky man who was wearing very expensive clothing that Ezra was pretty sure came from Capital City. "What of it?" She asked casually before turning away and gave the man a look of disgust. "Don't walk away from me!" He snarled. "Why in the galaxy would I do that?" Ezra asked sarcastically. "You should know how to talk to your betters by now!" Ezra stopped and immediately got defensive. "And what exactly is that supposed to mean?" She asked lowly. He just had a grin on his face before grabbing her good wrist to pull her towards him. Ezra very quickly got out of his grip and took a couple steps back before glaring at him. "I would thank you  _sir_ if you don't do that again." She sneered while pushing down the jittery feeling she was getting before walking away.  _'Don't pick fights. Kanan would be happy.'_ Ezra thought. "Get back here girly!" Ezra ignored him and kept walking since this man was one of all talk and no bite.

She was heading towards the entrance when a teenager slightly older than her came out of one of the buildings.

"I'm Maurice. What's your name?"

"None of your damn business." Ezra answered flatly not being in the mood to deal with him since her mood just got ruined.

"That hurt!" Maurice said dramatically while clutching his heart.

"Look, just leave me alone and you'll be fine, got it?"

"Crystal madame." He said with a salute but still kept on following. Ezra wasn't impressed in the slightest.

"Then why are you still following me?" Ezra asked in frustration. Doesn't this guy take a hint? It's like Capital City all over again.

"Well, it's been a long time since I've been in the presence of someone with wit and beauty." Ezra gave Maurice a flat look saying she didn't believe him for a second.

"Doubt it."

"Come on now…" Ezra's senses were going off when he put a hand on her back and immediately shook him off.

"Don't." She warned. Deciding to press his luck, Maurice decided to sling an arm across her shoulder. "I said," Ezra ducked and turned to face him. "Don't." Maurice had an infuriating smile on his face like this was a game to him. "What's so funny?" Ezra said while narrowing her eyes.

"Nothing mademoiselle."

"Then stop trying to hang off me like a kriffin' parasite!"

Kanan finished gathering the rest of the supplies when he looked around for Ezra. "Not again." He groaned when he didn't see the teenager. He stretched out into the force slightly and knew where she was. In an alley after she had explicit instructions not to leave the market square. He could hear faint arguing voices that got louder until he recognized one as Ezra's. "Look, get lost will you and stop following me!"

"What's going on?" Ezra whirled around and nearly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Nothing." Kanan raised an eyebrow at the girl and looked between her and the other teenager. Kanan knew his type and didn't like him after setting eyes on him and was nearly stalking towards Maurice with a menacing look to get away from his crew member. Maurice, showing a small amount of intelligence after seeing Kanan's expression, ran off. Kanan looked down at Ezra who was glaring at the direction Maurice ran off in.

"You ok?" Ezra didn't take her eyes off the coward that was running.

"I'm fine." She said. Kanan merely nodded and started walking back towards the market.

Ezra spun on her heel to follow him when a tiny voice stopped her. "Miss?" Ezra turned and saw the young twi'lek boy she gave a yogan to. The same yogan he held out to her. She got on her knees in front of him and looked at the fruit before closing his hand over it. "I'll be fine. I promise." The twi'lek nodded before smiling again and ran off. Ezra staid on her knees a little longer before she stood and brushed them off and walked away, acting like the small scene never happened. Kanan watched the girl as she came out and couldn't help but replay the last ten minutes and came to one conclusion.  _Hera is going to kill me._

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Hera was indeed furious when she heard about what happened in the market. "You were supposed to be watching her!" Hera exclaimed. "She's a young teenager Kanan! No matter how much street life has taught her there is some thin-" Ezra stopped eavesdropping at that point so she didn't risk getting caught and tiptoed through the ship back to her and Zeb's room. All the lights in the hallway were dimmed and Zeb was a heavy sleeper so she could sneak in and out without much trouble. Ezra's not sure whether to be happy or annoyed today. Happy because she helped a couple loth rats (she may not have a heart to most people but children never did anything against her), or annoyed because she apparently needed Kanan to get a guy to back off. Ezra could never understand why other teenage males would follow her around sometime. She honestly found it annoying and very creepy. Ezra glared at the bandaged hand and wanted it to heal faster so she could get on with jedi training. Shrugging off her dress and tossing it to the floor, she stared at the ceiling before her eyes felt heavy and fell asleep.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

_Ezra watched helplessly as the guns went off and aim at the field where Mr. Sumar escaped to and couldn't help but stare in horror as one of the bolts hit him. "No." she said with trembling hands. "That's not what happened." Ezra was in too much shock to realize that two stormtroopers were behind her and grabbed her arms, forcing her to turn around to face the third. The third aimed his blaster at her forehead and pulled the trigger. Yellow eyes filled her vision before everything went black._

Ezra frowned in her sleep and started to fidget when she bolted straight up and looked around the room wildly with her heart racing.  _'Didn't happen, didn't happen,'_ she repeatedly told herself. Rubbing her eyes, she looked around even though she couldn't see anything. Bringing the blankets up farther, Ezra shivered from her dream.  _'More like a nightmare.'_ Lying down and curled into a ball, Ezra laid wide awake until everyone else got up, too wound up to go back to sleep.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Ezra fell asleep at some point during the early hours on the ship and yawned before she threw back the covers, only to stop her hand seconds away from letting go. Rotating in her bed, she stuck her head over the edge and was relieved that Zeb wasn't there. Still…she crawled onto her knees and wrapped the sheet around herself before descending down the ladder. Retrieving her dress Ezra dashed into the refresher and put it back on.

Deciding to loiter around a bit, Ezra took her time brushing her slightly chaotic hair and remembered her mother humming as she would brush it. Only her mom was allowed to touch it. Ezra learned her most basic skills from her mother and her hair had a pixie cut before her parents got taken away. Wanting no reminders of the time before, Ezra grew out her hair. Ezra didn't particularly like having her hair down as it makes her feel vulnerable and uncomfortable so she always keeps it up. She couldn't explain it other than it does.

Deciding to face the world today Ezra left the refresher and went down to grab something to eat. Looting through the cupboards Ezra found fruit that she's never seen before and decided to play it safe while grabbing a yogan since she wasn't sure what was safe for humans to have fruit wise. She had some…interesting experiences on the streets in that regard and was lucky that she didn't die from eating the fruit she swiped from an off world vendor when it turned out to be slightly toxic to humans when its raw. If you took some medicine for it you'd be fine but because Ezra was on the streets…she's still thankful she didn't die but doesn't remember what exactly happened since her memory is still fuzzy from those few days during the first year on the streets. Munching on it slowly, Ezra decided to lie on the wrap around seat and stare at the ceiling while eating her fruit. She turned her head and saw a bowl and a fork. Deciding to have some fun, she lifted the bowl and had the fork twirl around it with the force while eating.

Kanan came in and saw a pair of bare feet sticking out from the couch. Having a quizzical look on his face, he turned his head and nearly rolled his eyes when he saw Ezra stretched out on the seat but flicked his eyes upwards and saw a bowl floating with a fork twisting around it.

"Ezra, what are you doing?"

"Practicing." She said in a tone that said it should have been obvious to know what she was doing. "If I'm not allowed any physical training I might as well practice what I already know."

"What all do you know?" He asked curiously. Ezra shrugged. "Little things mostly. I know when people are lying to me, intentions, feelings mostly. I can levitate things for a small period of time but I'm getting better and throwing people." Ezra frowned at that last one. That one was the most instinctive one she has next to being able to know when someone lies.

"Then you know that I'll be able to tell if you're lying or not." Frowning at Kanan's statement, Ezra sat up and had the bowl and fork float downwards so it won't break. "Hera and I specifically told you not to wonder off and yet you did so anyway." Ah. So that's what this is about.

"It was an accident."

"You don't accidentally go into an alley."

"I didn't think I'd have to go in that far!" Ezra finally snapped.

"Why would you even consider it in the first place?"

"My business."

"It's everyone's business if you get yourself into trouble that could have repercussions for everyone!"

"I don't have to explain it to you." Ezra said stubbornly.

"If not to me, than to Hera." Ezra had a stubborn point to her face. "Until then, you're grounded, meaning you're not allowed to leave the ship."

" _What?_ " Ezra shrieked.

"No training, no excursions and no leaving the  _Ghost_." Ezra had a murderous look on her face but still said nothing. Kanan nearly growled in frustration at the girl and left. Losing the rest of her appetite, Ezra looked at the fruit and quickly ate the rest of it even though she wasn't hungry. Wasted food is never an option. She chucked the core in the trash with more force than was necessary and stalked out of the common area and into the unused cargo bay.

She resisted the urge to kick something and plopped on the ground. Grounded? Ezra doesn't remember being grounded for anything. Or really have any rules that didn't include survival. She scowled at the thought of having to say  _why_ she was in the alley in the first place. It wasn't any of their business to begin with.  _'Are you sure about that?'_ The little voice in her head said. Her face lost its harshness and looked back to the events of the past few days and saw a pattern.

 _"Pride," her father would say, "could be the best and worst thing about us and have consequences no one would want."_  And her pride nearly got her killed. Ezra chewed on her thumb nail trying to figure out what to do. She could go to Kanan about this but Ezra doubts that would be the best option for right now. How could she explain that she saw herself in the children with their hopeless expression, their demeanour or actions? How could she say that she wanted to help them when no one helped her? Kanan would probably lecture her or something. He was very fond of doing that and Ezra has no idea why. What was she doing wrong? Was that why she wasn't getting any training or very little? Ezra was trying to figure out what to do when Sabine came in.

Sabine was walking around the ship in slight boredom when she decided to go into the rarely used cargo bay and was surprised to see Ezra there. She walked over to the girl and could feel something was wrong with the way her head was hanging.

"Hey Ezra." Ezra's head snapped up.

"Oh, hi." She all but mumbled. Sabine sat down beside you.

"Something bothering you?"

"You could say that." Ezra really didn't know what to say but she could use some advice from someone who won't lecture her…

"Kanan's all but grounded me." Sabine's eyebrows went into her fringe. What did Ezra do to get grounded? Seeing Sabine's look Ezra ploughed on. "I wouldn't tell him why I went into an alley."

"I'm guessing you were told to not go into the alley." Sabine guessed. Ezra merely nodded.

"Why wouldn't you tell him?"

"It…it was personal." Ezra hesitated. Sabine could see Ezra struggling with this.

"And Kanan is all but forcing you to tell him."

"No, he  _is_ forcing me to tell him! Why can't I have something private to myself?"

"Him or Hera?"

"Either." Ezra grumbled. Sabine thought for a few minutes while the two girls sat in silence. Sabine knows about secrets, stars know she still has some.

"Talk to Hera, she'll understand." Ezra snorted.

"Like that's going to happen."

"What happened that made you so jaded against adults?" Sabine desperately wanted to know. Ezra's eyes closed off at that.

"You become jaded when people who knew you all your life suddenly starts to think your less than the dirt beneath their shoes when you're on the streets. When you try to defend yourself and you get blamed for disrupting the peace or when you needed help the most they turn you back onto the street without so much as by your leave." Ezra sneered. It still hurt and it'll probably never leave. Sabine nearly reeled back in shock at that. Was it really that bad?

"Ezra," Sabine started while searching for the right words. "Hera won't completely understand but she'll try her damn hardest to. She won't judge."

"How would you know?" Ezra asked harshly.

"Because she didn't judge me." Sabine said truthfully and left it at that. "Look, I'm not saying pour your heart out." Ezra snorted. Never going to happen. "What I'm saying is that a little trust goes a long way." Sabine got up and left, leaving Ezra to her thoughts.


	12. Talks

Ezra was having conflicted thoughts after Sabine left from their conversation. On one hand she can go to Hera and explain everything and hope that she doesn't punish her further or not tell her but be grounded from doing anything. Gritting her teeth, Ezra stood up. "Stop being such a coward Bridger," she chastised herself. She can do this. She did not survive by herself for seven years to turn into a child again. Deciding to trust in Sabine's judgement she made her way to Hera's room. Ezra hand was shaking slightly when she knocked on Hera's door.

Hera was organizing her belongings (however few there were), when there was a knock on the door. She nearly missed it with how soft it was. "Come in." The door hissed open and revealed Ezra standing there with an uncertain expression on her face and was shifting on her feet. Hera had a feeling she knew why the girl was here. Kanan came storming in and was going on about troublesome girls and secrets. Hera just let Kanan rant until he ran out of steam and told her that Ezra was grounded and the punishment would only stop if she talked to either of them. Hera didn't question his judgement to that since she is his student.

"Yes Ezra?" Ezra opened her mouth before closing it again.

"Can I talk to you?" Her voice wasn't very loud and Hera could see that Ezra didn't want to be here that much.

"Of course." Hera waved a hand so Ezra would come in and guided the girl to sit on her bed before quickly closing the door.

"Kanan already told you." Ezra said. She wasn't asking.

"Yes he just came a little while ago. You want to tell me what's going on?" Hera wanted Ezra to say her side.

"I wouldn't tell him why I was in an alley." Ezra said.

"Even after we both specifically told you not to leave the market square." Hera told her.

Ezra was struggling with all of this. Why can she have some secrets to herself? She can't lay herself bare to some strangers, not after the last group that were merciless in taking everything from her.

"I just don't understand! Why can't I have some secrets to myself?" Ezra was nearly pleading with Hera to help her understand. Hera sighed.

"It's not that you can't have your own secrets but when it's one that could harm the crew of this ship or you then we need to know."

"But nothing happened!"

"I know that and you know that  _now._ But what would've happened if something did happen? I didn't tell you to stay near Kanan to be cruel. I did it so you would be safe." Hera took a breath. "I know that you survived on the street for years and were on your own but on the  _Ghost_ it's different. Here we need to know we have each other's back but to do that you need to show a little trust."

"It's hard. It's so  _hard._ " Ezra was slightly horrified that her eyes had a slight sheen on them but ignored it when she looked up in Hera's eyes. "I've spent so long not trusting that I don't know how to do it anymore."

"Then try to take a leap of faith." Hera said. Ezra nodded uncertainly. "It won't happen overnight but start with the little things and overtime I hope that you can come to trust us." Ezra didn't say anything for a few minutes.

"I saw…something." She said slowly and in a near whisper. "Children, other Loth rats like me." Hera could start connecting the dots slowly at that but didn't say anything as she wanted Ezra to talk to her. "I had a few extra credits so I got them something to eat but they went further into the alley so I followed them farther in." Her voice became halting when she said the last part and was worried that she'll get punished for it. She looked up at Hera. "I didn't want them to steal because of what happened a couple days ago and knew that if they were caught stealing that there would be hell to pay, no matter if the child was barely five or not."

"You wanted to give them some protection." Hera stated. Ezra just gave a small nod while Hera sighed. "While I'm not happy that you disobeyed both Kanan and I," Ezra gave a small flinch. "I can't get mad at your reasons for going in there in the first place so I'm letting you off just this once." Ezra looked up at Hera with startled eyes. "Just this  _once._  If it happens again then there will be trouble." Ezra slowly nodded at this and looked down. If it was anyone else she would think that this was a trick that would lure her into a false sense of security but with Hera…Ezra couldn't help but get a sense of truth from her and struggled with all of this but remembered Hera's words.  _A leap of faith._ So she would try taking that leap here and hopes against hope that this won't hurt her later. "Was that all?" Hera asked. She got a nod from the girl and stood up. Ezra made a small face when her hand gave a twinge. "Hand bothering you?"

"Not really." Hera gave her a look. "Maybe a little?" Ezra said in an asking sort of way.

"It's just the healing process. At least it speeds everything up or else you wouldn't be able to move it for a month." Ezra nearly blanched at that. A month? No thank you. She turned to leave but stopped at the doorway.

"Hera," Hera looked up and saw an uncertain look on Ezra. "Thank you."

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Kanan came by Hera's room a little while later. "She already talked to me and I decided to let her off this once." Hera said, not turning around. "Did she say why she left the market?" Hera gave Kanan a look. "I promised her I wouldn't tell anyone and I won't break that trust." Kanan held up his hands. "I was just asking." Hera sighed. "Ezra has enough problems without her questioning our trustworthiness. Don't pester her about it and she may tell you."

Ezra stood near the door and couldn't believe her ears. Hera was refusing to tell Kanan what she told her. Ezra couldn't stop the happy feeling that bloomed in her. She heard footsteps and quickly scampered off so she wouldn't get caught by either Kanan or Hera. Deciding that there wasn't anything else she could do, Ezra went to go find something to amuse herself with. She found herself in the common room and noticed a couple of data pads on the table. Curiosity got the better of her and turned one on. Her eyes lit up that it had books on it. They may be about dry subjects but it was still reading. Ezra hasn't gone to school since she was seven so her education was lacking quite a bit when it came to that and wanted to rectify that. Grabbing it she darted to her room and took out the small panel near the head of her bed and stuffed the data pad in there with the other ration bars she's been hoarding. Grabbing one to snack on Ezra stared at the ceiling and was hoping that the bandage on her hand will come off soon.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

"So can I take this off today?" Ezra asked hopefully. It's been three days since she's had the bandage on and wants it off. The constant need to scratch her hand was distracting to say the least.

"Let's see." Hera carefully unwrapped Ezra's hand and Ezra could see the imprint the bandage did to her hand. It was completely red with fading yellow in some spots but that's to be expected. Hera gently pressed on Ezra's hand to check the bones and see if they've been healing right. Ezra flinched when the cold hands touched her skin before forcing herself to relax. Checking the fingers, Hera nodded to herself.

"Well?" Ezra asked impatiently.

"Your hand is healing nicely but I want to keep those two fingers bound for another day or two to be on the safe side."

"So no more bandage?" Ezra clarified slowly.

"No more bandage. But, I want to build up strength in your hand slowly as the bones are still brittle and could easily re-break."

"So can I do jedi training then?"

"You'll have to ask Kanan." Ezra deflated, knowing what his answer will be. "Alright." Ezra said with a long suffering sigh.

If Kanan won't train her for the day, then she'll get on with cleaning her knife. She went to her room where she carefully de-energized the blade and disabled it until she was done to be on the safe side. Grabbing her supplies from her bag, Ezra went into the refresher to clean it. The dry blood was crusted on which Ezra didn't think about as she rubbed the cloth on the blade to clean it with her solution to help get it off and to prevent rust. With practiced ease Ezra cleaned the knife for a while until all the blood was off. Deciding to give it a little love, Ezra checked the edges to make sure it was still sharp and rubbed some oil on the blade so rust won't be an issue. Checking the electrical coils for damage, Ezra was pleased that there wasn't any. Wiping everything down she put everything back in her bag before flexing her hand that was getting cramped.  _'Not using it for three days really does suck.'_ Ezra thought as she slowly made a fist and relaxed it a couple times to work out the cramps. Throwing her bag up on her bed she decided to go outside for some fresh air.

She could see some rock formations in the distance from the grassland. She walked about fifty feet away from the  _Ghost_ and wrapped her arms around her middle while staring out into the distance not really thinking of anything. One thing she was certain about: her life is never dull. She watched the grass wave gently in the breeze as it picked up and played with strands of her hair. Deciding to take a walk, Ezra wandered off close enough to the  _Ghost_ but far enough away to give Ezra some privacy she was craving.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Kanan was meditating in his room with his holocron open. Basic information on the jedi way of life to lightsaber forms, star maps and other things that Kanan hasn't discovered yet was all in this small cube. He should have known that Hera wouldn't tell him anything about Ezra but he did have to ask. Deciding he couldn't concentrate any longer Kanan closed the holocron and went outside. Where he saw Ezra standing a little ways away from the ship. He walked towards her and saw her shoulders tighten. "I'm not going to tell you what happened the other day."

"I didn't think you would." Kanan replied easily.

"It was hard enough telling Hera about it since frankly I still think it's none of your business." Kanan raised an unimpressed eyebrow. Ezra blew air out of her nose harshly and faced Kanan. "Please understand that I haven't truly trusted anyone since I was young. Every time I did try it blew up in my face so that only helped my theory to not trust anyone with what I'm doing." Ezra said while looking at Kanan. Kanan just nodded at that and decided to wait. If she told Hera and Hera decided that she could be let off then it's good enough for him.

"Alright." He said while looking around. "Since you still can't do any physical training, let's try some force pulls." Ezra had a confused look on her face. "You're already good at pushing," Ezra went slightly red at that, "so let's try doing the opposite." Ezra had a curious look as Kanan demonstrated it. "Now you try."

"Um, ok." Ezra looked around and saw a small stone that should be easy enough. She held out her arm and concentrated by remembering what she felt from when she would do the pushes and levitations. The stone moved a couple feet but then dropped. Ezra dropped her hand at that.

"Try again."

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

"Chopper! Get back here you karkin' rust bucket!"

"What did Chopper do now?" Kanan asked in exasperation the next morning.

"That  _menace_ shocked me out of bed this morning, locked the 'fresher on me and after I unlocked the damn door and got in? He locked the kriffin' door from the outside, locking me in!" Ezra seethed. "I wonder how long it'll take Hera to notice that the rust bucket is gone." She wondered out loud. Kanan shook his head at Ezra.

"Come on, let's get some training done." Ezra perked up at the  _t_ word.

"What are we doing today?" She asked with some restraint from bouncing on her feet.

"You are going to be stretching your senses." Ezra had a sinking feeling that it'll include meditation. She was hoping for something more physical but figures that this will have to do until her middle finger is healed. The two walked out of the  _Ghost_ towards a small clearing. "I want you to meditate and stretch your senses out. Let the force flow through you." Ezra sat on the hard ground before getting comfortable.

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and could feel the force wash over her. Ezra wasn't sure how much time past but she opened her eyes in irritation when she could stretch out her senses. "I can't feel anything." Kanan sighed.

"Were you thinking of anything?"

"No."

"Strong emotions?" Ezra frowned. "Not sure."

"You need to control your emotions. Discipline your mind. Strong emotions distract you from finding a calm center."

"But  _how_?" Ezra asked. She didn't understand.

"Try again." Ezra's eyes flickered uncertainly at Kanan before complying.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

"How was training?" Ezra gave Sabine a dirty look. "That good huh?"

"I don't get it. I  _know_ I can do this but-"

"Something's distracting you?" Ezra shook her head, trying not to think of the yellow eyes she kept seeing.

"Nope." She said immediately. Sabine went back into her room while Ezra walked around going crazy. She wasn't used to being so idled and it was making her feel more twitchy than usual. She came out to the common room where her hand twitched at the sight of a still functional Chopper playing Zeb in a game of dejarik while Hera watched. Chopper bleeped out something that Ezra figured out the gist of from her basic knowledge of binary and knew he was making fun of her.

"Karkin' rust bucket." She muttered. Zeb just had a grin on his face as he played his next move against the droid. "Hera?" Hera looked up.

"Yes Ezra?" Ezra's eyes darted back and forth between Chopper and Zeb. Hera got the message. "Let's go talk in the cockpit." The two made their way up with Ezra sitting in the co-pilot's seat. "Now, what would you like?" Ezra chewed on the inside of her lip.

"Why don't I have any chores? Because I know that I need to pull my weight so I can stay here." She asked seriously. Hera was a bit surprised at the question. Teenagers usually never ask for chores or why they don't have any.

"The first week you were here we wanted you to get used to the ship and this week you have a broken hand." She said with a pointed look at Ezra's hand.

"But," Ezra said while feeling helplessly, something she hates. "What am I going to do after?"

"You'll be helping with the repairs on the  _Ghost_ and cleaning it. There's a schedule for the cleaning but the repairs depends on where they need to be." Ezra nodded at that as it made sense. "Anything else?"

"Since you're here, I'll tell you now that some of the repairs that need to be done are through the vents." She said while giving the teenager a pointed look.

"Ok…" Ezra said slowly. "Can you give me a small crash course? I'm pretty sure that the ship is just  _slightly_ more complex than a speeder bike."

"Remind me after your hand is completely healed and I'll show you what needs to be done." Ezra lit up. She loves mechanics almost as much as dancing but the most she's done is hotwire things and can repair a speeder and basic droid well if she has the parts.

"Thanks." She nearly skipped out of the cockpit and was whistling an almost happy tune.

"I don't think I've heard that tune before." Ezra turned and saw Kanan leaning against his door.

"It's from a Corellian smuggler that used to come to Jho's a lot."

"You know old Jho?" Ezra gave him a deadpan look.

"Everyone knows old Jho," she said in a  _duh_ tone. Then she brightened, remembering what Hera said and went past Kanan and started to whistle a small tune. Kanan wondered what had the girl so happy.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

"I'm free!" Ezra's declaration rang through the ship after Hera declared her hand healed. Ezra raced through the  _Ghost_ and what was the first thing she did? Climb through the vents. She sighed in content when the familiar metal walls were around her. In the small vents she felt safe or not as exposed since very few people could get through them. Crawling around Ezra could feel her recently healed hand give off a small protest but ignore it as she crawled towards the common room and came out of the vents.

"Having fun?" Ezra's head shot up and saw Kanan nursing a cup of…something. "Wanted to get the feel of the vents again." Ezra shrugged. "Since you now have all this free time on your hands, let's get some training done." Ezra sat on the ground and waited expectedly since the  _Ghost_ was in the air. "Outside." Ezra stared at the man. He was kidding right?


	13. One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Kanan had Ezra doing something she never thought she would do and hopes to never do again: doing a hand stand on the gun torrent while the _Ghost_ was in flight. "Remind me again why I agreed to this insanity?" Ezra asked as she wearily balanced on her hands. "You're the one who wanted training, now focus." _'All you ever have me do is focus.'_ She snarled in her head. She could barely do a handstand on a flat unmoving ground so it was amazing that she was still doing the handstand right now while being in midflight and not falling over everywhere yet on the bent glass of the gun torrent.

"Focus on letting go."

"Letting go?" Ezra said before grunting as her legs swung backwards slightly and had to readjust her hands to get re-balanced. "I'd rather hang on if you don't mind." She grunted.

"Enough jokes." Ezra gave a deadpan look at Kanan upside down. "Who said I was joking?" She grumbled. She will need a mental check if she ever does this insanity again.

"Now focus." _'If he ever makes me do this again I'll kill him.'_ Ezra thought viciously as she concentrated on her balance. The fact that he got her out here was terrifying enough but to be upside down while on a ship that was hundreds of feet about the surface of Lothal? She didn't know what she was thinking of when following him and was deeply regretting it now. Shutting her eyes as more blood rushed to her head, Ezra could feel her body swaying in the thin air as she tried to keep her balance. She can balance on her feet perfectly. Her hands? Not so much. She never had the need to do it so she never bothered with learning the skill. Amara though, loved walking around the tower on her hands upside down and would give Ezra heart attacks when she would go outside near the railing while on her hands and start to sway. Ezra would later grumble that Amara did it on purpose. The little attention suck.

"I'm trying." She yelled. But before she could tact anything else on Kanan said, "Do or do not. There is no try." Ok, now he was confusing her. She readjusted her hands before looking at him in confusion.

"How can I do something if I don't try doing it first?" She asked in confusion. It seemed like a very clear contradiction to her in her mind. Kanan opened his mouth to say something before changing his mind a couple of times. "Well…see…ok that one always confused me too but Master Yoda sure used to say it a lot." _'So you're parroting this Yoda person, that's good to know,'_ she thought while mentally rolling her eyes.

Zeb gave a loud and obnoxious yawn which Ezra gave him a glare for as he hopped up from the place he was sitting. He cracked his back as he hopped up with Ezra cringing when she heard multiple _pops_ coming from the Lasat. "Kanan, I thought this jedi stuff was going to be more interesting." _'You and me both,'_ Ezra thought as a gust of wind came and she swung dangerously backwards. "No wonder the old religion died." Chopper warbled in agreement while Ezra glared at him for saying that. She remembers her parents talking about the jedi and how courageous they were during the Clone Wars. No need to insult the dead any further since the Empire seems to be doing a pretty good job of it right now.

Ezra had a bad feeling when Zeb came straight up to her and had a grin that she knew meant nothing good. "Come on kid, amuse me, use the force." Zeb said with a grin as he came closer towards her. "Zeb don't you dare!" Ezra warned as she shook slightly and nearly lost her balance. Her balance was shaky enough with the encasement completely still and she fell off when Zeb started shaking the glass encasement for the guns.

"Zeb!" Ezra hollered as she fell backwards into a box of containers and could hear Zeb laughing at her. "Does he have to be here?" Ezra snapped as she rubbed the back of her head as the blood started leaving her head and was now feeling light headed from it all. She hauled herself out before realizing what a bad idea that was. Her vision went white for a couple seconds as she swayed before righting herself again. "He's annoying but there is always going to be distractions. You need to learn to focus through them." Ezra had to stop herself from rolling her eyes when Kanan started spouting his jedi wisdom again as he looked out into the sky. "Oh yeah, real good getting distracted when my balance is basically non-existent to being with!" She snapped. Kanan just ignored her outburst. Zeb gave a snort and Ezra clenched her hand into a fist before she could actually lunge at the Lasat. She knew that she needed to clamp down on her temper but she usually doesn't need to since she normally has an outlet for it.

She was distracted from her thoughts of maiming Zeb when Kanan came over while talking. "Here, let's try something else," before handing her his lightsaber. Ezra felt giddy about this and wanted to have more time to examine it. She always wondered how the jedi got their lightsabers because of just how complicated it was and the different designs from when she likened them to blasters because she doubts that they're mass produced and therefore are all individual. She really wanted to examine it but knew that she didn't have any time right now so instead she settled for asking about something she's been wondering about. "When do I get my own?" She asked in curiosity. "Having a lightsaber doesn't make you a jedi." _'And here's the lecturing again.'_ Ezra grumbled in her head. Holding it slightly sideways, she pushed the button that ignited the blade and saw Kanan take a few hasty steps back. "Careful!" Ezra was grinning in the back of her mind and snickering.

Kanan came behind her and Ezra tensed slightly. She hates it when people are right being her and can't do anything about it. She brought the blade up when she saw Kanan's finger point to another button. "There's a control on the side that adjusts the length to your height." Ezra absently nodded and watched as the blade shortened by a foot. She glowered at the blade for making her feel even shorter than she already was. "I think i' should be a li'le shorter." Ezra glared at Zeb when she turned to glare at him with Chopper warbling and cackling in agreement.

"You go and stand over there." Kanan said. Ezra nodded uncertainly as she made her way towards the end of the _Phantom._ Keeping both hands on the hilt, Ezra turned back, wondering what the next instructions were.

"Now close your eyes." Confused, Ezra closed her eyes while reminding herself to not open them, no matter how much her eyelids want to spring open.

"Let her have it Chopper!" Chopper grabbed the carton and started spinning with him arms out before letting go of the projectile.

"Wait, what?" Ezra cried out as the box smacked her forehead.

"Ow!" Opening her eyes, Ezra glared at Chopper.

"Ezra, eyes!"

"I've never done this with my eyes _open!_ " Ezra exclaimed. Chopper was cackling at finally being able to get back at Ezra for her somehow locking him in a room and dismantling all the locks so he couldn't open them. It took the crew over a day to figure out where the droid went and Ezra ended up going outside and letting loose a cackle of laughter with a demonic glint in her eyes while everyone was running around trying to find the little droid who was having a freak out after finding out that his electroprob was also disabled. Ezra suspects that Kanan and Hera knew it was her but just can't prove anything which was fine by her. She needed the revenge for all the hell he gave her with her essentially being one handed for an entire week.

"Ezra, eyes." Grumbling, Ezra shut her eyes again. Another carton in the head. "Be precise. Keep the blade _up._ " Ezra can just imagine Kanan with slightly clenched teeth. Ezra gritted her teeth.

"Kanan, exactly what am I trying to do here?" Ezra asked as yet another carton smacked her. "See the cartons in your mind." Ezra could hear Zeb laughing which made Ezra even more frustrated.

"That's it kid! Use your body!" After being smacked a few more times while backing up, Ezra wanted to call it quits from the sheer frustration she was feeling which she nearly never does and can only recall one other incident that she really did quit at. Suddenly there were more projectiles coming faster. Trying to protect herself, Ezra kept backing up while uselessly swing the lightsaber around to try to stop the cartons from hitting her.

Two hit her in the forehead in rapid succession that had her neck snap backwards which tossed her whole body back and dropped the lightsaber. But instead of hitting the hard metal of the _Phantom,_ Ezra hit the plexiglass and flipped backwards. Her eyes snapped open and immeditaly clung to the _Ghost_ where Sabine was watching this play out and couldn't do anything to help other than to shout for Hera. Ezra felt her grip slip and couldn't help the scream that escaped her as she started to free fall through the air. She was completely terrified and her thoughts became incoherent when she started slowing down before stopping. Looking around in amazement, Ezra could feel her body being lifted back up through the clouds when the _Ghost_ came back into view. Looking up she saw Kanan on his knees with outstretched hands while Zeb opened the ramp from the cargo bay. Ezra stretched her arms out trying to reach him and her arm movements became more frantic when she suddenly dropped again. She let out a squeak when Zeb grabbed her arm and threw her into the _Ghost_ on top of him.

Ezra didn't move as she just let all this sink in. She got distracted when she fell to the floor from Zeb pushing him off her. Looking up when she heard Chopper, he had a carton in one arm and threw it at Ezra's head when she ducked and gave the droid a death glare for almost killing her. Getting up with shaking legs, she watched Zeb leave the bay with Chopper and leaned against the side of the ship. "That was _too_ close." She whispered to herself. Her heart was still racing as the adrenaline still coursed through her and made her way to the ladder where the _Phantom_ connected in with the _Ghost_ which helped calm herself down.

Ezra barely saw Kanan's face when he started going at her. "You weren't focused." Ezra couldn't help the incredulous look that appeared on her face.

"How exactly do you want me to focus while falling to my death?" She asked. Kanan reached out to grab her arm. When he latched on Ezra immediately took it as hostile and twisted her arm before grabbing his and forced it upwards to break the hold. Normally there would be a few punched and kicks but Ezra restrained herself.

"You wouldn't have been falling to your death if you were focused. You're full of uncertainty and self-doubt." Ezra was almost seeing red now. So it was _her_ fault now.

"And whose fault is that _Master?_ " She sneered at him. "I can't do what you want me to when you don't tell me!" Kanan threw up his hands with a very annoyed sigh. "It's difficult to teach." Ezra still didn't turn around but had an uncertain look on her face.

Zeb grabbed her by the shoulder to turn her around and face him "He means it's difficult to teach you." Zeb ended with a shove that sent Ezra stumbling back a few feet. Ezra couldn't help the hurt that shone through her eyes even as Hera looked at her. Biting her lip, Ezra disappeared into the air vents where her one, true sanctuary is.

Hera let out a sigh as Ezra disappeared. She could see that Ezra has been trying but she doesn't know how to apply Kanan's teachings. Hera knew that this was one thing that she can't interfere with and that Kanan and Ezra have to sort out for themselves.

Ezra was curled up in the air vent closest to the commons with her legs pulled up towards her chest before letting out a few shuttering breaths. Kanan didn't understand. He doesn't know how hard this is when you only have half the instruction you need. Sure she's done some tricks before using the Force but she's never _really_ used it. Never really had formal instruction before to understand what she was doing. "Need to walk before running," Ezra whispered to herself, remembering what her father once told her as she laid her head sideways on her knees.

She didn't know why, but something in her was screaming to stay with Kanan and didn't understand why no matter what she reasoned. Every time she thinks of leaving little alarm bells start going off in her head saying that's a horrible idea and she should stay. Why does she want to stay with him? Ezra mulled it over. Maybe…it's because he's the first person (next to Hera) to really give a damn about what happens to her and was willing to teach her skills that she needs to survive. At least, that's what Ezra was telling herself so she could try to stay objective. She stayed silent as the Imperial broadcast aired with the same boring things until a static sound happened and a slightly garbled voice came on. _"This is Senator in exile Gail Travys. I bring more news the Empire doesn't want you to hear."_ Ezra perked up at that. She's never heard of this senator but if he was getting news out against the Empire. She'll ask Hera about him later. It sounded like what her parents used to do before they got caught. Ezra always did wonder how her parents got caught. If she remembered right they were always careful about the broadcasts so something must've happened and she doubts that she'll ever find out. She listened in on the broadcast. _"One of the Republic's greatest peacekeepers, Jedi Master Luminara Unduli…is_ _alive_ _! She's being held imprisoned unlawfully somewhere in the Stygeon system. As citizens, we demand the Emperor, produce Master Unduli and grant her a fair trial before the en-"_ The broadcast cut itself out before it went back to the Imperial broadcast. It was shut off and everyone was quiet. Ezra was now straining to hear what was going on now.

"Did you ever meet her?" Sabine asked quietly.

"Once," Kanan admitted.

"She was a great jedi master. Brave, compassionate, disciplined…she would make an excellent teacher for Ezra." Ezra felt her heart break at that admission. Kanan didn't want her. Did he ever want her to begin with? Or was just waiting for someone else to come along to get rid of her to. "-they never came with a specific location before. We can't pass this up." Kanan's voice was filled with passion. "I was hoping you'd say that. I'll set course for the Stygeon system." The doors hissed open that signalled Hera leaving. "The rest of you, prep for an Op." Kanan called back.

Ezra came out of the vents and saw the back of Sabine which left her with Chopper. Her eyes held all the emotions she was feeling right now instead of being closed off as she normally has them. "I can't believe this." She said to herself while wrapping her arms around herself. "He's going to pawn me off to some stranger." Ezra said with the hurt showing on her face with her voice cracking, forgetting Chopper was in the room. "I knew I shouldn't have trusted him so easily." Ezra took a deep breath before she let all emotions melt off her face with her face becoming the mask she came with when she first came on board the _Ghost._ Any pieces of her mask that were chipped away were getting replaced again rapidly until her face turned into a blank slate.

When she left Chopper gave a low chirp and a mournful whistle. He may not have a heart like an organic and not understand emotions but he knew what Kanan did wasn't right and Ezra now had to suffer for it. Ah well, any excuse to shock him was a good one to Chopper.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Ezra stood at the back of the cockpit as everyone sat around Chopper who rolled into the room after uploading the schematics that were needed to pull this operation off. On one hand, Ezra was bitter about the fact that if this gets pulled off, she'll get shuffled off to a new person that she knows nothing about. On the other, she's chastising herself for not wanting this operation to succeed because no one deserves to be locked up like an animal like this. She focused in when Sabine started talking. "Welcome to the Spire on Stygeon Prime." Chopper brought up the holo which looked like a fortress built into a very steep mountain. "The only Imperial detainment facility in the Stygeon system and…it's impregnable."

"That's never stopped us before," Kanan said. Sabine gave a small huff of laughter. "Trust me, we've never seen anything like this before. It's a real work of art" She started ticking the points off with her fingers. "Blast proof, ray shielded, protected by anti-ship weapons, TIE fighters and has short and long scanners." Hera had a contemplative look on her face. "We can fool the scanners." Sabine had an uncertain look on her face. "Maybe, but that just leaves an army of troopers and guard posts on all sides." She said while pointing to the spots. "Look, even if we get in, that still leaves the issue on how we're going to get out because it's you know, a prison."

Ezra was looking at the diagram and pitched out an idea. "What about going in low and sneaking onto this landing platform?" Sabine immediately nixed the idea. "Platform has a heavy trooper presence and reinforced blast doors. Impossible to get in or out that way." Ezra shrugged. It was just a thought.

Kanan glanced over at Ezra before finding a small spot on the schematics that could possibly work. "Here." His finger was now glowing red. "There's only room for a couple guards." The line moved up and in. "Then we can make our way to the upper level isolation cells, free Luminara and come back out the way we came." Chopper started warbling that Ezra caught a couple things that made no sense to her but Sabine caught on. "Yeah, you'd have to be _crazy_ to try _that_ lousy plan." Sabine finished with a small eye roll. Ezra snorted quietly at that. "Let's just hope the Empire thinks so too." Ezra looked out the front when the ship dropped out of hyperspace and couldn't help the bad feeling she was getting. _'This isn't going to end well.'_


	14. Thought on Being Wanted

Ezra was the first one out of the cockpit and was nearly running from everyone as she dashed out. Chopper turned off his hologram before seconds later shocking Kanan with his probe arm. "What was that for?" Chopper just gave an angry warble. If he could huff, he would before turning around and leaving after Ezra. Kanan saw the looks. "What?" Sabine and Hera gave each other looks before Sabine got up and left to get her explosives ready with Zeb following moments later.

With Zeb leaving, only Hera and Kanan were left in the cockpit. Hera turned to Kanan. "Now, you want to tell me what that was about Ezra earlier?" She all but demanded.

"What about it?"

"The fact that the girl all but ran out of here and earlier. I heard everything Kanan and you _know_ how damaged she is and you pretty much threw everything at her." Kanan just sighed.

"I know, but how can I teach someone when I never completed my own training?" Hera gave a very unamused look.

"So that's your excuse for why have you been half assing the training?" Hera demanded to know. "There's still a possibility that Master Luminara won't come out alive. You have to consider the po-"

"Because her motivations are selfish!" Hera gave Kanan a look. Kanan didn't even want to entertain the thought of Master Luminara not being alive.

"And that different from any other sentiment race because…" Hera trailed off.

"Jedi are selfless, they never think about themselves before helping others." Hera gave Kanan a very flat look at him reciting what the Jedi Order taught him.

"Did you ever think that Ezra needed to become selfish to survive on her own Kanan? It's bad enough as a child who was taught to trust adults but as a _female_ child…that's just asking for problems so I'm asking you to stop doing this half-heartedly, train her and commit to it because I doubt she'll go to a new master without a fight and would probably leave to find us again." Kanan gave Hera a look that said he didn't believe her.

"I don't know if I can teach her. I never even finished my own training." He protested feebly.

"But Ezra wants _you_ to teach her love which is amazing in itself considering the life she's lead so far. I'm sure you can be a good teacher if you don't try things half-heartedly. Trust is also key and from the looks of it she trusts you." Kanan sighed as he thought about what Hera said and thought back to a few days ago when that boy was harassing Ezra. "I've seen the way she looks at you. She trusts you a lot with her training which is amazing considering how long she's been here for." Kanan said nothing but his doubts were still written all over his face.

"Let's just get Luminara." Hera sighed before turning to face the blue streaks of hyperspace as Kanan left to do his own preparations.

"I just hope you're ready to have one pissed off teenager at you." Hera muttered to the air.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Ezra ran back to her and Zeb's room before shutting the door and locking it. She needed some time alone to get herself ready. She stripped off the obnoxious orange flight suit before tossing it aside. If this was going to be a stealth mission than bright colours weren't a good idea.

Reaching into her bag she grabbed her dark blue leather jacket that was almost like a second skin on her. It had very light plating between the two layers of leather which offered her some protection. Pulling that on she grabbed out a pair of greaves that were black with dark yellow plating on it. Normally Ezra never gets this stuff out because she didn't want it damaged but it seems that she doesn't have a choice right now. And something about this mission didn't feel right. Her leather was somewhat easier to get then the matching greaves, mostly because the leather came from a rancor and the greaves…well…let's just say she cashed in a favour or two to get them.

Ezra was going through the gestures when she grabbed her holsters for her blasters before strapping them on and checking the actual blasters. The ELG-3A hung at her waist on her right while the Q2 holster was strapped to her thigh on her left leg. Her knife and its sheath were strapped to her right lower leg. Inspecting the blaster Ezra nodded as she look over each of them before putting them in their holsters. She put her hair up in a high pony tail before dumping her bag and grabbed only a couple items and shouldered it.

Waving a hand to unlock the door Ezra decided to leave via the vent just so she had a chance to cool down. She didn't know how much time passed when she decided to come out and wandered around. She ran into Chopper who was waving his little arms around while speaking in binary. All Ezra caught were fragments but she got the gist of it. She couldn't help the shock that went through her at what Chopper did on her behalf of her personal feelings. No one has ever done that for her before that she can remember and (she snorts in her head), it's quite sad that the first one to do so is a droid. "Chopper," Ezra said solemnly. "You are getting a nice, long oil bath when this is done." Chopper clicked and whirled in happiness. He got to shock Kanan and gets an oil bath out of the deal! Maybe he should do this more often…

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Kanan looked around his room with pain filled eyes. He did enjoy having Ezra around (even if she was a pain, sarcastic and annoying at times), but he just wants her to have the training he can't give her himself. He was only a young teenager when his own master was killed and had no idea how to teach in the first place, let alone teach another skills that he himself has really only learned the basics of. Ezra deserved better than what he can offer. He may be able to offer her protection but not the training she really needs. Her powers are growing and Kanan wasn't sure when she will surpass him and that thought troubled him. He remembers the stories and rumours about the trouble Master Kenobi had while trying to teach Anakin Skywalker after Skywalker's force abilities surpassed his master's. Whenever he was at the temple he seemed…slightly arrogant in Kanan's opinion. Of course it was from afar but it was still troubling. Kanan wouldn't be able to deal with it so he was willing to hand her over to Luminara who had the discipline and years of training her own padawans to be able to help Ezra. _'She was awfully quiet.'_ Kanan mused thinking back to the meeting. No one has seen her since but Kanan knew she was in her room since she locked Zeb out who was now grumbling about her and uttering curses under his breath.

Grabbing everything he needed, he left his room. In a very small part of his mind, he was arguing against leaving Ezra, saying that it would be good for the both of them if she staid. _'Plus the Force was adamant about that vision a few months before you met her.'_ The small part said. Kanan frowned slightly at the reminder of that vision. It plagued him for days and wouldn't let up until a couple days before the crew came to Lothal for that fateful run in. For today at least, he will do his best to protect her from getting injured since he doubts she's ever done anything like this before.

 _"It's time."_ Came over the intercom. Kanan made his way to the _Phantom_ where Hera and Sabine were already sitting. Zeb came in a few moments later with his bo-rifle slung across his back. Ezra showed up a few minutes later. Kanan couldn't help but stare at the girl. He took it back. She probably has done an operation like this once or twice. Her hair pulled back while wearing all black with lower leg armour on both legs and her blasters and knife all strapped on with her faithful pack on her shoulder.

"What?" She said irritably. She wasn't stupid enough to do this in a very identifiable flight suit. She did have some intelligence. Everyone was silent until Kanan broke in.

"Let's go over the plan again. As soon as the _Phantom_ gets close enough, I'll jump and disable the guards. You three will come after me and Ezra will disable the lock." Kanan looked at the three as he explained their roles. "After we get inside Sabine will located Master Luminara and Ezra and I will head up to free her. Zeb and Sabine, you two will hold the floor until we get back. Once I give the signal Hera will rendezvous outside near the platform for the getaway. Any questions?" _'Just one. Are we actually going to pull it off without any trouble?'_ Ezra thought. Her thoughts were interrupted when Choppers angry warbles came over the comm.

"Sorry Chop. We just don't need your damaged logic circuits on this one." Ezra wanted to smack her forehead. _'That droid will murder you in your sleep and you just insulted him.'_ Ezra didn't say anything as the _Phantom_ detached from the _Ghost._ She wasn't in the mood for banter now that she knows why Kanan hasn't really been trying to train her. He didn't want her. Ezra knew that it didn't apply to the rest of the crew (Ok, maybe only Hera and possibly Sabine. She wasn't even going to try and understand Chopper whom she seems to have a love-hate relationship with), but it still didn't help the fact that she was seen as merely a tool to the rest of the crew, something she vowed never to be again if she could help it. Too many traumatic memories came along with it.

Kanan looked at Ezra from the corner of his eye and saw her just staring out into space with blank eyes. Her face was a blank slate as well so he couldn't gleam anything from her. No emotions, no thoughts…she was a complete blank. Kanan thought back to when this started. When she was giving suggestions in the cockpit she gave nothing away on her face about how she felt about the mission. Maybe he was being a little too hard on her…he minutely shook his head. Once Luminara was free she can train Ezra much better than he can.

Ezra just stared at the wall as she sorted out her murky thoughts. Everyone stood up, startling her out of everything.

"Thirty seconds, good luck." Hera called.

"Luck? We're gonna need a miracle." Zeb said. Sabine reached in her belt.

"Here're three." Ezra grinned as she took one and Zeb took one while Sabine held onto the last one. She stowed it in her bag until she needed it since she needs her hands free.

"Try to stay focused." Kanan told Ezra.

"Thought there was no try." Ezra pointed out sweetly. Kanan just glared at the wall before turning around and saying nothing. When the hatch opened the cold air stung Kanan's face and shut his eyes for a few seconds. When he spotted the landing platform he waited for the best moment to jump. "Alright." Kanan jumped out of the _Phantom_ before free falling for a few dozen feet before flipping to help cushion the impact.

Ezra watched him with a gleam in her eye as she watched him take out the stormtrooper sentries with ease. No matter how much she was itching to get down there Ezra had to restrain herself. _'Follow the plan to the letter. Gives him less of a reason to get rid of you,'_ she thought as she watched Kanan quietly take down the guards. Ezra admitted in her head that it was impressive but still wanted to wipe that smug grin off his face. The _Phantom_ shook slightly while Zeb and Sabine got up ready to jump.

"Ready kid?" Zeb's tone suggested that it wasn't a question but more of a demand. Ezra just gave him a flat look before jumping on his back.

"Good luck." Hera called out to the three of them. When they all jumped Hera gave a small sigh before turning the _Phantom_ away with her part done. Ezra relished the feeling of the wind on her face as they dived towards the platform. Within the last ten feet Ezra jumped off Zeb to make her own landing. She pitched forward and rolled a couple feet before she sprang up. Sabine hurried to the door while Zeb dragged the two unconscious stormtroopers to either side of the door and propped them up.

"Ezra, door." Sabine said. Kanan barely spared her a look when she dug into her bag for her droid arm lock picker. The search lights were coming back as Ezra frowned at the lock. It was a lot more complicated than she thought it was.

"Ezra!" Kanan said in a whisper yell.

"Quiet!" She snapped. "I'm focusing." She added on with a sarcastic drawl. She fiddled around with it for another few seconds (which felt like a lifetime each), until she heard the click. "Got it." She said dully. Each step closer is another step for her to being kicked off the _Ghost._ Kanan strode forward with a stern expression on his face while knocking into her without a backwards glance. "You're welcome." She muttered under her breath with a glare. The urge to hit something was becoming stronger by the minute. Unfortunately Zeb heard her. "You did your job. Do you want a medal or something?" Ezra just sneered at him before catching up with Sabine who was the only one in the group she was getting along with somewhat at the moment.

"Luminara's here. I can sense her presence but it's…clouded." Sabine strode forward to the terminal and uploaded all the information she needed. Ezra stood off to the side and even backed up a little when Zeb gave her a look. She held her arms around her middle as the uncomfortable feeling started to return.

"Where is Master Unduli?" Kanan asked with urgency.

"Detention block CC-01 isolation cell 0169." Kanan's eyes widened. "They have isolation cells on the lower levels?" Kanan took a couple steps to look at the terminal, hoping that Sabine was mistaken. She wasn't. "That means we planned on out dated schematics." Ezra rolled her eyes. Well duh. Of course they were out dated. The Empire wasn't going to let you get _that_ kind of data without sending a few red flags in their system. So they let the out dated ones have the lesser security and make it look like the intruder got the updated information while the Empire actually one upped them. It's a simple trick that Ezra figured out after the first couple times of trying to get into restricted buildings and in turn just started nicking officer badges that have the high clearance codes.

"The plan changes."

"You got a back-up plan?" Zeb asked with crossed arms.

"Figuring one out right now." Ezra just looked on with an amused expression. Might as well get some petty entertainment out of this while she still can. Kanan walked towards the elevator. "Zeb, Sabine you're coming along." Ezra dashed in when Kanan walked in.

"I thought we were supposed to hold the escape route here."

"Now the turbo lift _is_ our escape route." _'Brilliant.'_ Ezra thought. _'This will be interesting.'_ As soon as the doors shut Ezra felt very uncomfortable in such a close proximity to Kanan and shuffled as close to the wall as she could. Sabine couldn't help but let out a small whine. "His plans get worse all the time."

"Tell me about it. Let's just hope he doesn't change it again." Zeb said with an eye roll.

"I'm standing right here." Kanan deadpanned.

"We know." Sabine and Zeb replied at the same time. Ezra was trying very hard not to let out a small laugh at that. As soon as the lift stopped and the doors opened, Kanan reached out and grabbed the two stormtroopers and pulled them in. Ezra pressed herself against the lift's wall all the while trying not to get smacked by flailing limbs between the two troopers ad Zeb. She gritted her teeth as Kanan went out.

"Maintain comm silence and whatever you do, hold this lift." Ezra ran out while trying to get out of the suffocating air that was in the lift and right into the line of fire for a buckethead.

"Hey you, stop!" Kanan wasn't having any of it and pulled the two bucketheads towards him while stretching out his arms so their necks cracked against them. The two landed with two large thuds. Ezra begrudgingly looked slightly impressed at this.

"You are actually being serious about this." She commented lightly.

"There's a lot more at stake then you realize." _'Oh don't I know it.'_ Ezra thought while giving a dark look at Kanan's back. He just can't wait to get rid of her, the pifgah. She heard dragging sounds behind her so she turned her head to see Zeb dragging the two unconscious people into the turbolift. The two walked in silence until they came upon the hallway they needed. There were two stormtroopers guarding one cell. _'Guess that's the jedi's cell.'_ She thought as Kanan waved his hand in front of the two. "Shouldn't you be guarding the jedi cell? It's on the next level."

"The cell is on the next level." The one trooper replied dutifully.

"You better get moving."

"We better get moving." The other parroted. Ezra raised an eyebrow at this whole by play. If this is what the Empire is hiring then there is no hope for the galaxy. She couldn't help it, she had to ask.

"When do I get to learn that?"

"Luminara will teach you." Ezra went to say something when Kanan spoke again but much quieter. "Much better than I could." Ezra suspects she wasn't supposed to hear that. Better than him? At least she _knows_ him...somewhat. And trusts him...somewhat. This Luminara would have nothing but her contempt since she's ripping away the only stability Ezra's had in a long time. When she went into the cell there was a lone figure sitting on the bench. Ezra wasn't impressed to say the least.

"So, is that her?" Kanan ignored the venom in Ezra's voice for the moment and concentrated on the master. Her presence was all wrong. It didn't feel…natural and her movements were so submissive and docile. She acted like her mind wasn't in this galaxy and was somewhere else. But she looked the same. "Yes this is her but…something's wrong." Luminara got up and started walking towards a containment unit on the wall not even acknowledging Kanan or Ezra. "Master?" Kanan called out to her in uncertainty.

Ezra frowned slightly as she took in Luminara's appearance. The closer she looked the greater the feeling she got that felt like something was wrong. She went to reach out with her hand when the jedi master suddenly got up-and Ezra jerked her hand back-before she started walking towards the wall and…shimmered? She and Kanan exchanged looks when Luminara did that and sunk into the containment. She couldn't help the startled gasp escape her when this happened. Ezra looked on in horror as Luminara's face became more skeleton like with the looking glass frosting over.

"I don't understand? What happened to her?" Ezra asked in confusion. What was going on? Why would there be a report of the jedi master being alive when she was quite clearly dead? She narrowed her eyes at her thoughts.

"It seems quite simple actually." Ezra turned around and grabbed her blaster and pointed it at the being within seconds. "I am the Inquisitor." He brandished a red lightsaber. "Welcome." He had a small and sickly smile on his face. Ezra stared at it then looked into the yellow eyes that haunted her dreams with one thought going through her mind. _'We are so screwed.'_


	15. Enter the Inquisitor From Left Stage

Kanan was quick in brandishing his lightsaber while Ezra staid out of the way best she could. She knew she was completely outclassed here from just looking at this…thing and had no shame in admitting it and to be honest, she's felt something she hasn't in a long time; fear.

"I'm afraid Master Luminara died with the fall of the Republic, but her bones continue to serve the Empire, luring the last of the jedi to their deaths." Ezra could see Kanan tense as the Inquisitor kept talking and was slowly coming down the steps. Ezra decided comm silence be damned they needed help _now._ "Spector three come in." All she head was static. Jamming. She snapped her head up. It was a trap all along and they just walked right into it like gra to the slaughter. She knew this whole situation felt funny but ignored it.

"There will be no re-enforcements." The Inquisitor stared down at Ezra with his sickening yellow eyes. Ezra had to suppress the shiver she felt while looking into those eyes. Kanan lunged at the Inquisitor and Ezra jumped backwards trying to put as much space between herself and the two lightsaber wielders as possible. Kanan took a swing at the Inquisitor, who merely moved to miss. Ezra saw Kanan's whole upper body go down, telling her that he put his weight behind it while the Inquisitor brought his lightsaber down which Kanan was quick to block. Kanan took a swing at the Inquisitor's head who merely ducked and looked…amused? He pointed the red lightsaber at Kanan who had a furious look on his face when his connected. Another couple strikes between the two and the Inquisitor had Kanan backing up toward the coffin before he moved to the side to give himself more room to move around in. Ezra quickly moved so she wouldn't get hit while furiously trying to think of a way to get out now that the door is shut.

"Interesting," The Inquisitor mused. "It seems that you trained under Master Depa Bilapa." Kanan had such a startled look that Ezra figured that it wasn't common knowledge.

"How…who are you?" Kanan demanded to know. The two traded more blows with Ezra sprinting towards the entrance before remembering Sabine's miracle in her bag. She grabbed it before setting the timer on it and moved again. When she looked up, Kanan lunged with the Inquisitor side stepping the blow and grabbed his arm all the while mocking him.

"The temple records are quite complete." Kanan had a furious look on his face when he went for another strike when the Inquisitor blocked him one handed while Kanan pushed on his blade with both so he wouldn't get sliced by it. As they backed up, he kept talking. "In close quarter fighting Bilaba emphasised on Form III, which you favour to a _ridiculous_ degree." When it became clear that Kanan would be against the wall, Ezra took out her Q2 and fired a couple shots. The Inquisitor rounded on her to block them which Kanan took as the signal to run towards the Inquisitor and away from the wall while trying to strike down. The Inquisitor blocked him before jumping over his head and kicked him towards Ezra. His lightsaber blade snapped back while Ezra rushed to Kanan's side, not trusting the Inquisitor to not strike Kanan down where he fell. Kanan looked furious with himself before clenching his fist and looked angrily at the Inquisitor. "Clearly you were a poor student." Ok, this guy has done enough mocking for one day! Ezra fired a few more shots at the Inquisitor, extremely wary about being in close quarters with him especially with his lightsaber. The Inquisitor looked amused as he blocked the shots. "Is that really all you got my girl?" Ezra bristled at the term and glared. "Well…I have this!" She said with a smile that showed her teeth while gesturing to the bomb near the door that was blinking furiously before exploding.

The door was blown back with sparks and smoke everywhere. Ezra and Kanan ran out of the holding cell with the Inquisitor walking calmly behind him which had Ezra a look more nervous. She could hear the whirling of a lightsaber with everything screaming at her to get down _now!_

"Kanan!" She jumped on him to tackle him to the ground while the red (double bladed? Ezra could feel the blood drain from her face), lightsaber when whirling over their heads. She rolled off Kanan and looked up before she saw the blade coming back towards them. The Inquisitor caught it and Kanan leapt up activating his blade and the two started to fight again. Kanan was constantly backing up as the strikes were coming twice as fast than before and it was all he could do to not get gutted.

"Are you paying attention girl?" Ezra grounded her teeth at being called 'girl.' "The jedi are dead. But there is another path: the dark side." Ezra looked at him with a flat look. "Never heard of it." She moved so she could get a clear shot but it was blocked again much to her frustration but quickly ducked as the bolt came flying back. The Inquisitor shoved Kanan before blocking the bolt and pushed Ezra backwards until she hit the panelling. Ezra let out a small cry when she hit at the high speed and flipped backwards before landing on her stomach. She just laid there for a moment, trying to catch her breath back. "Have you taught her nothing?" The Inquisitor asked in a condescending voice. Kanan gritted his teeth at that before he rushed at the Inquisitor. Ezra shook her head to clear out the black spots as the two kept fighting. _'I'm so outclassed.'_ She thought as she watched the fight. Against Kanan she knew she was since he had the experience but against the Inquisitor? It looked like he was toying with Kanan. And the look in those yellow eyes…Ezra couldn't help the ice cold feeling that settled in her. There was something, unnatural, about the force user that she couldn't put her finger on and didn't really care to try and figure out right now. All she cared about was getting out of here alive with Kanan.

Ezra grunted as she got up before rubbing her sore arm. _'Must've caught on the door frame.'_ She thought. No doubt there might be a bruise there tomorrow. Kanan and the Inquisitor started to do a deadly dance that only they knew the steps to as Kanan jumped over the red blade as it stuck low, trying to catch him off guard and the next to the middle had Kanan spinning backwards to avoid it. "Do you really think you can save the girl? For her sake, surrender." _'Not gonna happen,'_ Ezra thought.

"I'm not making deals with you!" Kanan grounded out. Ezra could hear his voice laced with fatigue. The Inquisitor had a thoughtful look on his face.

"Then we'll let her make one, shall we?" Without any warning the Inquisitor shoved Kanan backwards a good twenty feet before landing one his back. Ezra looked at him in worry before turning towards her bigger problem. "You're master cannot save you girl." Ezra gave him an angry look as she fully faced him. "He is unfocused and undisciplined." Ezra couldn't help but feel the irony in that statement. She stood still as the Inquisitor came within striking distance. The Inquisitor circled Ezra slowly as if he could see something he liked. "I can foresee that you'll either become a formidable adversary or ally. I can show you what your master can't: true power."

Ezra couldn't help but listen to him talk. She listened to his smooth voice even as she was trembling from the darkness that rolled off him as the air felt colder than it did moments ago.

"I think I'll judge that for myself!" She snarled. She didn't want to become a dog again, being yanked around from master to master against her will. No, this time, _she's_ choosing her master, and her own fate along with it. The Inquisitor may have power but the sickening feeling she was getting felt nauseating to her, too much like what she unleashed years ago. _"No, NO! DON'T LEAVE ME! YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME!"_ The sickening screams filled her ears as she shook in fury.

The Inquisitor had a small speculative look on his face. He's felt this once before he feels but the familiarity was so fleeting…he needs to make sure. He suddenly swiped towards her feet and Ezra jumped over the blade and had her blaster out and pointed at the Inquisitor's head within seconds while his blade was close enough to her neck that she could feel the intense heat radiating from it almost giving her a heat burn. "Interesting," he mused while looking the girl over. "Your eyes show no hesitation for pulling the trigger and yet you stray for the simple fact that we would both be dead." Ezra said nothing as her arm held steady and had a blank expression on her face. He leaned in closer. "I can feel the power in you, straining to be unleashed. Do you honestly think that your master will teach you everything you need to know?" Ezra supressed a shiver that went through her from the tone he used and from the Inquisitor almost _shoving_ the dark energy out into the open. Ezra clenched her teeth.

"He may not be able to but at least he'll never destroy me like you would." The Inquisitor looked at her in interest at that. "That energy feels…familiar." He mused out loud as the familiarity came back. He needed to know where this was from.

Ezra tried to keep a tight rein but couldn't help when her frustration leaked through. The Inquisitor minutely turned his head, giving Ezra enough time to duck and get out of the lightsaber's reach. The Inquisitor came towards her when he was suddenly jerked up towards the ceiling like a rag doll. Ezra saw Kanan holding his hand up to keep the Inquisitor on the ceiling.

"Run!" Ezra shot off like a loth cat as she raced towards Kanan. As soon as she reached his side he dropped his arm-and by extension the Inquisitor-in exhaustion. When they stood up, the Inquisitor looked behind him and gave a look that had Ezra shivering in fear. He held his lightsaber out and the half-moon guard turned into a full circle and _started spinning._ Ezra couldn't help but look in fascination at it, even if the wielder was terrifying her.

"Does yours do that?" she asked. She couldn't take any more surprises today.

"Come on!" Kanan grounded out while not thinking about how basic his saber must seem to the Inquisitor's as they ran. As they ran down the hall Sabine and Zeb shot out from the other hallway. Sabine spotted them first.

"Come on, this way!" They all started running towards what Ezra hoped was the exit.

"Figured out it was a trap?" Kanan asked.

"Yep. Master Luminara?"

"Long gone. Our new exit?"

"Landing platform." _'I thought you said it was impossible?!'_ Ezra thought.

"I thought you said it was impossible to get out that way?"

"Let's hope the Empire thinks so too." Ezra heard the spinning lightsaber before she saw it. She looked behind and say the spinning light coming off the lightsaber.

"Inquisitor right behind us!" She yelled, hoping that no one caught the slight hitch in her voice. The Inquisitor's voice suddenly came over the loud speaker.

" _Secure the facility. Full lock down_." _'Oh great.'_ She thought sarcastically. _'This keeps getting better and better.'_ She jumped over the panels that were closing and was starting to struggle to keep up as the gaps kept getting smaller and smaller. She could hearing running behind her and shot at him with Sabine's help. The Inquisitor batted them away like flies.

Zeb jumped on the door of the last one to keep it from shutting on them. "Can't do this all day!" He grunted out as Kanan, Sabine and Ezra all jumped through the gaps seconds before Zeb. Zeb leaned against the frame while giving a low chuckle before he was startled at seeing the red blade pierce through the metal so easily. Zeb shot the lock of the door that lead into the hanger, hoping to slow the Inquisitor down even more.

The alarms were blaring overhead as everyone ran towards the lock. "I've got it." Sabine said as she typed something onto her comm. She gave out a growl of frustration. "It's locked me out of the system! Ezra?" She said hopefully. Ezra quickly grabbed her droid arm to unlock the door. What she didn't expect was pretty much getting electrocuted. Her arm lit up with the blue electrical current as it made its way upwards. She jerked her arm back before falling backwards. Her arm was tingling and completely numb as she shook it off.

"Sorry." Kanan held out a hand that Ezra merely looked at before hauling herself up.

"Ezra, come here." Ezra cautiously followed Kanan towards the middle of the doors. He had his hard stretched out.

"Together."

"Seriously?" She said in an _are you kidding me?_ tone.

"Yes." Kanan bit out. "Picture the locking mechanism in your mind." Ezra gave him and uncertain look as she stretched her hand out. Simple locks such as the ones on the _Ghost_ were simple but these ones are state of the art. Screwing up her face, she closed her eyes while trying to picture what Kanan wants.

"Excuse me, but can we train Ezra later?" Zeb yelled as the Inquisitor started to slice through the last door. He and Sabine had their weapons pointing at the door now. Ezra ignored this as she could feel the force flow through her body and had her hand turned so it looked like it was lifting something. She could feel the strain going through her arm and heard the pop of the door letting go and the light the flowed into the room. Ezra opened her eyes in amazement which quickly grew wide as stormtrooper started shooting at them. She quickly grabbed out both blasters and started firing. Zeb threw a miracle which stunned the troops, giving the _Ghost_ crew enough time to start running towards the landing platform and firing while Kanan deflected shots with his lightsaber. Sabine, Zeb and Ezra all took cover behind a crate as Sabine called to Hera.

"Specter five to _Phantom,_ we're on the landing platform ready for pick up."

_"Roger that Specter five, and I'm bring the fleet."_

"We have a fleet?" Zeb asked. Ezra could only nod, thinking the same thing. The _Phantom_ came into view with these huge flying creatures behind the shuttle.

 _"We do now."_ Hera shot at the ground troops while taking out a couple of the stationary TIE fighters along the way as the creatures wreaked havoc on the landing platform. She opened the door to let the crew on once she got low enough.

Everyone started running towards the _Phantom_ and didn't hear the door opening when the Inquisitor came out. Knowing he couldn't get within arm's reach, he threw his lightsaber like a boomerang. Kanan heard the whistling of the distinct lightsaber sound and turned before bringing up his to block it. Ezra saw it coming from the corner of her eye and immediately dropped to the ground in instinct before getting up again and bolted towards the shuttle. "Does yours do that?" Zeb asked. Kanan merely rolled his eyes as the door shut.

The Inquisitor has a speculative look on his face. "That girl…"

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

"Master Luminara?" Hera asked tentatively as they left the planet's atmosphere. Kanan had a downtrodden look on his face.

"Gone. We'll have to find a way to spread the word."

"How's Ezra taking it?"

"Not as bad as I am. Guess she's stuck with me, for now." Ezra wanted nothing more to do than bury her head in her hands and wallow in misery. She may only look tired but her mind was a mess. The Inquisitor was playing with them, getting a feel of things and he shook her up. Ezra didn't realize that some part of her hungered for the power the Inquisitor was showing while the rest of her was utterly terrified. She was walking a fine line before getting on the _Ghost,_ which tipped the balance towards the light but the Inquisitor showed her a taste of power, power she's only felt once before in her live and acted on it. The fact that Kanan still wanted to get rid of her hurt, but not unexpected from looking at his behaviour towards her.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

As soon as the ship landed and the hatch opened Ezra went out to sit on the ramp, thinking about what to do next and what'll happen to her since Kanan clearly didn't want her. If she's lucky she'll live out the year, two years stretching it a bit. Ezra looked at her hands. She knew Kanan was behind her.

"You gonna drop me off somewhere?" She asked in a resigned voice.

"What are you talking about?" Kanan asked in confusion. Ezra just continued on, pretending she didn't hear him.

"I mean, I guess it _is_ my fault for sticking around for so long, thinking that there would be at least one adult that would actually care and keep their promises. I think I was channeling Amara there for a few minutes but maybe I was being a little too optimistic." She snorts. "I might as well just leave to save you the trouble of getting rid of me." Kanan couldn't help but stare at the girl who was curled up in a way to make herself look smaller than she already was.

"Ezra, what in the galaxy are you talking about?" Ezra lifted her head and gave him a weak glare.

"I know you don't want me. The minute you heard about Luminara you wanted to throw me at her and wash your hands of me. How do I know you won't do it again?" Kanan's heart dropped at all this.

"I just want you to get the best training you can get."

"How am I supposed to do that when I don't even know these people? I know you and I trust _you_ with my training and I don't want to leave this ship!" Ezra cringed at what she said. She didn't mean for all that to slip out. Kanan just realized how much he's messed up here.

"Ezra, is it wrong for someone to want to get you the best training you can have?"

"It is when you are trying to kick me off the ship." She said sullenly. "I literally have nowhere else to go. And believe it or not but…I…I actually like being here on the _Ghost._ It's made me feel…wanted." There. She said it. Kanan will now laugh at her. Kanan couldn't say anything. This is the most she's ever spoken at him without becoming sarcastic. Kanan sighed.

"I've never had a student before," he heard Ezra's snort at that. "So it's going to be a learning experience for the both of us so I'm not going to try and teach you anymore." Ezra's head dropped even further. "Because if all I do is try I'll never succeed so from now on, I _will_ teach you." Ezra looked down at her hands.

"I trust you." She whispered. _'But only with my training.'_ A little voice in her head said.


	16. Heading to the Ultimate Underworld

Ezra had a small grin on her face as she went back inside the ship from getting the scour marks off the _Phantom_ (from the last run in with TIE fighters from last week), with the bucket in one hand and the brush she was using in the other _._ She can help fix the ship but she just can't fly it much to her sorrow. She likes speed and dangerous tricks! It's been a week since her small…episode with Kanan after coming back from the mission on Stygian Prime. With nothing crazy happening within the week other than flying food to Tarkintown, do some training with Kanan and giving Chopper his well-earned oil bath (Ezra swears if he was a loth cat he would've been purring in content), she's had a chance to study the crew in more depth and get a more…in depth view about them.

Sabine was one of the easier ones. She has a shadowy past but she does enjoy her explosions and Force help you if you disturb her while she's painting. Sabine also has a temper (which Ezra can also admit to having, which has gotten her into trouble more than once). But she is prickly about secrets from other people which in Ezra's mind is slightly hypocritical of her since she wants to know everything that's going on around her and yet she stays silent. Zeb was a bit tougher. He has a very gruff face about him and is very prickly but once that's penetrated, Era could sense a deep sadness and sorrow lingering there from what she could gather about what he said about his siblings, they must be dead and died in a violent way (Ezra shudders when she thinks of seeing the Lasat explode like that). Although he seems to have no love for droids and Chopper knows that and exploits that to its full potential. Chopper is simple: stay on his good side by giving him oil baths while carefully navigate the conversation away from the instillation of a blaster and you're fine for the most part. If you annoy him too much then you're in for a few elecro probs.

Between Hera and Kanan, Hera is slightly easier to read, if only just. She has secrets from the crew, big ones. Ezra won't lie that she wasn't curious about them since she's heard some one-sided conversations with this 'Fulcrum' person (Ezra knows that she wasn't suppose to know because last time Sabine tried listening in she nearly had her head torn off by Hera so she kept her mouth shut at the fact she was in the vents right above her when she was bored). She cares deeply about them but there's something else, something that troubles Ezra but she can't put her finger on it. Kanan is a whole other story. She swears that all she sees is masks and Ezra was getting tired of it. She wants some of them to fall away, she wants to see some honest emotion other than frustration aimed at her. Sure he's gotten her to work on some other things and help refine the skills she already has but it's not _enough_. Ezra isn't sure why that frightens her a bit. There's always that dark part in her mind that's always eager for the fight, wanting the adrenaline to flow. "Ezra." Ezra was pulled from her thoughts when she heard Hera's call.

"Yes Hera?" Ezra said.

"Do you how to do rewiring's?" Ezra had a puzzled look on her face.

"Depends," she said cautiously. "How complicated are we talking?"

"Not too complicated. Just some rewiring for the sonic showers near my quarters that have gone faulty and a couple others."

"I _should_ be able to do that but I'm not making any promises." Ezra warned. Hera just nodded.

"You'll have a comm so if you're having any issues you can ask."

"And where exactly are the faulty wires?" Ezra asked while dreading the answer. Hera merely pointed upwards and Ezra nearly groaned. This will be fun.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

"Remind me why I'm the one doing this?" Ezra asked as she laid on her back with the ceiling and side panel further down the ventilation shaft so she has some room to work with exposed wires everywhere. She had to comm Hera a couple times when she didn't know what to do to fix the problem as she remembered from Old Jho's when some captains came in they would brag about their ships and all the upgrades they would make…and would kill anyone who would touch it. So Ezra was going to play it safe since she didn't know this ship and had no idea if anything got upgraded or not. "Because you're the only one small enough that can get through the vents and fix the wiring without us taking down the entire panel." Kanan said over the comm. "And you can't do it that way because…"

"It takes more time to take the paneling down than fixing the wiring."

"And remind me, whose idea was this?"

"If I remember right it was yours." Ezra scowled at the reminder as sparks flew close to her face.

"You did say that you wanted to be useful." Hera's voice cut into Ezra's and Kanan's conversation. Ezra mentally grumbled at this as she tried to work in the cramped space one of the sparks hit her hand.

"Echuta!" She swore as her hand jerked back and smacked against the panel.

"Language!" Kanan chided. Ezra made a face at him knowing that he couldn't see it after shaking her hand from the sting.

"Yeah yeah." She grumbled under her breath as she quickly fixed the wiring. Putting down the tools, Ezra grabbed her comm. "See if that worked." She couldn't see anything and didn't hear any yelling so she assumed that it was fixed.

"Is it working?"

"Yes, thank you Ezra." Ezra put the comm away before concentrating on the panel that was a couple feet away from her. Moving her hand she directed the panel back into its spot before she took the drill to secure the panel. Moving her leg she gasped when pins and needles felt like they were sticking in her leg. _'This is brilliant.'_ She grumbled in her head as she cringed every time she moved her leg. Unscrewing the vent she shimmied out of the vent when she gave a gasp when her leg hit the edge. Biting down on her tongue Ezra looked to see where she ended up in. Her and Zeb's room. Deciding just to lie on her bed Ezra's one arm went over the edge as she groaned into her pillow from the stiffness her body was feeling. "What would I give for one of Shi'lik's massages." She said into her pillow as her face got buried in the soft mound. Her breathing started to even out as she started to fall into a dreamless sleep.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Kanan looked around the ship trying to find Ezra. The wiring was done so she would've been going towards the cockpit to see Hera. But Hera hasn't seen her either so now the hunt was on. Looking in the holds and the kitchen there was still no sign of the girl. Letting out a small huff of irritation Kanan decided to try Zeb's room as a last resort. Opening the door his eyes immediately were drawn to the top bunk where Ezra was stretched out and fast asleep. Kanan couldn't help but notice how much younger she looked while sleeping. Not wanting to deal with a cranky padawan (whose already short temper would somehow become shorter and snarkier), Kanan left not noticing one sleepy eye cracking open before sliding shut once again.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

"So where's the wayward padawan?" Hera asked as Kanan came into the lounge.

"Sleeping." Was the short answer Hera got. She just gave him a small look before going back to drinking her caf.

"Uh hu." Was the deadpanned answer he got back. Kanan just shrugged as he sat on his seat.

"So what do we do now? We delivered the food to Tarkintown and we're not in need of money or supplies. Fulcrum hasn't sent anything have they?" Hera gave Kanan a look for mentioning Fulcrum where Zeb, Sabine and Ezra could hear them.

"No, and I thought I mentioned to not say that name unless we had complete privacy?" Hera nearly hissed. Kanan held up his hands in surrender before they went back to the silence.

"Are there any big Imperial shipments happening in the area?" Kanan asked. Hera shook her head.

"Not that I know of."

"We could always go to Tatooine." Sabine suggested as she walked into the room.

"Tatooine?" Kanan asked in displeasure. Anyone who knows the Outer Rim will know that Tatooine is where all the bounty hunters, smugglers and slave ships end up at one time or another. "No. Absolutely not." Kanan said firmly.

"But we don't have any Imperials to harass here!"

"And there is next to none on Tatooine because it's a Hutt controlled planet."

"But we can expand our contacts there." Sabine countered Kanan. Kana wanted to yell in frustration. Instead he took a couple of deep breaths.

"We will think about it." He said in a forced voice to stay calm.

"So that's a no." Sabine muttered under her breath while leaving. Kanan groaned and put a hand on his face to help counter the aggravation he was feeling. He and Hera were silent for a few minutes.

"You know it's not that bad of an idea love." Hera said gently.

"Yes but," Kanan sputtered. "It's Tatooine!"

"This means there won't be many Imperials present and we can find out some information we might need and some new contacts would never go amiss." Hera held up her hand before Kanan could speak. "Ezra will be fine there if she stays close to one of us."

"I'm more worried about Chopper somehow acquiring a blaster."

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Ezra rubbed her eyes as she woke up from her nap. Not being able to tell the time kind of sucked so she went down to the living area and looked at the chromo meter and saw that it was 0345 standard time. "This kriffing sucks. I knew I shouldn't have had that nap earlier." She muttered to herself. Going up to her favourite place in the gun turret she took the spare pillow she had hiding in the vents and grabbed it before sitting and gazing at the stars. She wasn't really thinking of anything as the bright stars lit up the inky black background. Ezra was finally lulled back to sleep from staring at them for a while and fell into a peaceful sleep.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Kanan couldn't go back to sleep after watching his master get struck down once again in his mind by those damn clones. If he ever saw one again…he clenched his hand in anger before taking a long, deep breath and released the anger into the force. _'No need to get angry about it right now.'_ He said to himself. It was much too early to be up but he knew that sleep would elude him for the rest of the day. Deciding to grab a cup of caf he went down to the kitchen and poured himself a hot cup of the caffine.

Taking in a long inhale of the fumes helped Kanan to clear his mind. What Sabine said yesterday was still in his head. Tatooine. He sat down. There really wasn't any real reason why they shouldn't go other than paranoia. He's never liked slave ships, spice dealers or smugglers but one did save his life in the weeks and months after Order 66 was issued and would have probably been dead if it weren't for them. The other problem is Ezra being there. Lothal wasn't a big smuggler outpost although there have been the odd one that he's seen. If he told Ezra that, she would've laughed and shook her head at the naïve thought that Lothal didn't have smugglers. They just blended in better and knew better than to all come at once and instead went through middle parties.

But back to Kanan, he swirled the remaining caf in his cup while thinking of a solution to all this. They could take Ezra but leave her on the ship. But she would probably sneak off anyway. Or, they could have her stick with someone. Kanan snorted as he drank the last of his drink. Hera nearly tore his head off last time so it probably wouldn't be such a good idea this time. Groaning he tossed the cup in the sink making a mental note to wash it later. He wandered around the ship before coming upon a familiar sight of Ezra sleeping by the gun turret. He wasn't sure if she had a thing against beds or just has insomnia but this is where he'll usually find her if it's early and she's not in bed. Deciding to leave her for now Kanan left, not noticing a blue eye cracking open ever so slightly.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Ezra let out a huge yawn as she hopped up on her feet. Putting her pillow back in her hiding spot she left for the kitchen wanting something to eat as she could hear her stomach make demands for food. Shaking her head she grabbed the last yogan (and nearly pouted at that. They were her favourite!), and started to munch on it as the others started making their way in. Kanan was bright eyed which Ezra suspects that he's been up for a while, and Hera came through not wearing her goggles. The twi'lik went straight for the caf that was steaming on the counter when Chopper rolled in. Ezra kept a wary eye on the droid. Even though she was in the droid's good books, it didn't mean she was safe from being shocked half to death. Zeb came stomping in a small while later with Sabine right behind him with hair sticking up everywhere. Ezra bit her tongue from saying anything since she didn't want Sabine's wrath on her. Everyone was quiet, waiting for either Hera or Kanan to speak.

"We're going to Tatooine." Ezra swore she saw a spark of triumph in Sabine's eyes. "But only for contacts and possibly some work. Even though we have enough money for right now doesn't mean that some extra will hurt." Ezra was more focused on the Tatooine part and tried to remember if anything important was happening there at this time. Quickly calculating in her head she realized that the Boonta Eve Classic would be in the next few days and started to get really excited. She didn't realized that she tuned everything out until she saw everyone staring at her.

"What?" She huffed.

"I said," Kanan started with a small huff. "That you will be staying with Hera."

"And why, exactly?" Ezra asked while tilting her head.

"Because we feel that you will be safer that way." Ezra quietly snorted. You don't stay safe that way. Staying safe would be rolling over and playing dead for the Empire.

"I _have_ dealt with Lothal's Underworld on my own for years so why would I need an escort?" Zeb snorted at that.

"This world doesn't have that big of an Underworld. Mostly some low time smugglers."

"Tatooine will be dangerous Ezra you should know that." Hera said firmly. Ezra cocked her head.

"You really don't know very much about the Underworld of Lothal do you?" Ezra asked in a very frank manner. Zeb couldn't help but scoff at that to which Ezra narrowed her eyes. "Trust me. The underworld of Lothal is nothing to scoff at. The world may seem to be a typical planet with a small underworld unlike Tatooine or the Imperial Center but you have _no idea_ what really goes on beneath the surface."

"And you do?" Ezra snorts. "Better than most people. I was pretty much raised there and it taught me the tricks of the trade in order to survive. Tatooine is just more public about the scum they cater to." Kanan wanted to run a hand down his face. It was too early to get into this.

"Fine. Ezra can go with Chopper but don't leave the area ok?" Ezra restrained from rolling her eyes. She's fourteen, not stupid especially considering the planet they were going to. She stretched.

"If that's all I'll be around." With that she left the room. Everyone just looked at the door.

"Well, that went…" Zeb trailed off.

"Well." Hera sighed before looking at Kanan.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Ezra was cheerfully whistling as she skipped down the hall. She was going to Tatooine! She knows about the horrible reputation the planet has but then there's also the more fun side: Pod racing. It was something she enjoyed watching at Old Jho's and placing bets with the smugglers at the bar to get some extra money withe the biggest gambling being the Boonta Eve Classics. Some of the old captain's would fondly remember the first and only time a human won the race in one of the more thrilling years. Every single pod racer was wiped out except for two: the human and the dug who was the defending champion at the time, were neck and neck for the last leg of the race. It was a very close call until the dug's pod racer gave out and destroyed itself leaving the human as the winner.

Ezra was on the edge of her seat as the old smuggler told her of it with wild gestures and excitement in his voice. She was in awe and jealous that he actually saw the race. She only wished that there was still a recording of the race. It would have been amazing to watch. Come to think of it…She slowed down her steps as she furrowed her eyebrows. There was essentially NO information before the rising of the empire and the stuff that there is, is so drenched in propaganda that history may as well be written as propaganda. There was very little before the Clone Wars started and it basically accuses the jedi of setting everything up so the galaxy would be torn apart. She had no idea where or when this supposedly happened but from what she's heard from smugglers, her parents and hell, even Vizago would all admit that the jedi were trying to end the war as fast as possible, not prolong it and most certainly not start it! This just lead to more questions than answers which didn't make Ezra happy. She wanted answers to what really happened, but everyone who really knew what happened is either dead or… _'actually they probably all are dead.'_ Ezra thought correcting herself. The only one who knows the full truth is the Emperor which is a problem in itself. Since Tatooine isn't a heavily regulated (probably the most sparsely regulated now that she thinks about it), planet there might be a couple sources to check out. Junk shops can be a wealth of information-if you know where to go. Not to mention reaching out for contacts doesn't hurt either.

"I wonder if it'll be Mos Eisley or Mos Espa." Ezra wondered out loud. Either would be good but Mos Espa has the bigger reputation with it being where the Boonta Eve Classics are held. She was nearly knocked over by Zeb when she barely caught herself from falling over.

"Kanan said that we'll be at Tatooine in about eight hours." Zeb said gruffly as he kept walking. Ezra rolled her eyes and kept walking. She wasn't even sure where she was going but she needed to walk or else she was going to go stir crazy. She was never really confortable in confined places without a clear goal in mind. Getting from place to place in vents are fine and accidentally falling asleep in there is fine. Being cooped up with nothing to occupy herself with is _not_ fine. It leaves her with too much time to think which tends to make her over think things. Since there wasn't anything to really do she decided to challenge Chopper to a game or two of dejarik, something that she will regret in a few hours.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Kanan couldn't help but stare. Ezra and Chopper were going at dejarik with Ezra having a very intense look on her face with Chopper being quiet as he twisted his pieces around the board and killed of another one of Ezra's pieces.

"A little mercy Chopper?" Ezra asked in a grumble as she concentrated on the board.

"No one has been able to beat Chopper yet." Ezra jumped and scurried around the seat towards the corner trying to get away from the voice before her rational side kicked in.

"Don't _do_ that." She scowled. She can tolerate him coming into a room when she can still hear him and barely flinches if he comes in silently but can still feel his presence. But when he comes in without any warning, Ezra will jump which can sometimes lead to bad things happening. "Is there a reason why you're here?" Ezra asked.

"We're arriving in about an hour so I would go get ready."

"How long are we out for?" Ezra asked as she shut the game off. Chopper warbled in protest. "You won the last three rounds so you can suck it up." Ezra told Chopper. Chopper crossed his arms before rolling out of the room while warbling darkly. Ezra was sure that she needs to sleep with one eye open for a while.

"I would say the whole day so don't forget to grab some water." Ezra just nodded. She's heard about Tatooine's unrelenting heat and sun and it would be a good idea to heed those warnings.

"Alright."

"And Ezra." Ezra turned around. "Try to keep your temper when we leave." Ezra just snorted. Not going to happen.


	17. Shopping Around

Ezra looked at the clothes she had out on her bed with her while sitting cross legged at the top staring at them. Since it's Tatooine and hot it would be stupid to dress all in black and would be equally distasteful to wear her dress. Frowning at her choices she sighed before taking her black pants, a white top and her jacket over top of it with knee high black boots. Deciding that looking threatening would be better than looking defenceless, she grabs her belt before putting her holsters on her hips and her knife hidden in her boot. She put a pouch on her belt in case she finds something interesting and put her credits in her inner pocket of her jacket so there's less of a chance of them being stolen before closing it part way up. There wasn't much but she was hoping to change that once she hit the ground and with only Chopper supervising her it made her plans much easier. She was taught how to play cards and gamble by a couple of smugglers who enjoyed mocking her and laughing at her frustration as her face kept giving her intentions away. It took a long time but she finally able to master a poker face that would fool all but the best and most experienced players. _'Here's to hoping that there're only idiots at the tables today.'_ She thought to herself, along with wondering if they accept credits since not all of Lothal accepts them, especially in the black markets. Walking out of her room she saw that she was the only one wandering about. "Huh." She huffed to herself. Whether it was because she's the only one ready or because she has nothing to do now could be anyone's guess.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Hera looked around and didn't see anyone else up yet. Deciding to take a small walk around the ship she relished in the hymn of the ship as all the parts work in tandem with each other. She heard someone talking and decided to follow the voice. Heading towards the small holding bay, she could see Ezra and Chopper talking to each other. Deciding that it would be better to not get involved with whatever they were doing she decided that a strong cup of caf would help wake her up.

Kanan headed to the common area when he heard a small crash. Racing towards the noise he groaned with what he saw. Ezra folded on top of Chopper. "Let's not do that again, okay?" He heard her say. Chopper just responded with laughing, or the closest equivalent for a droid. "What are you doing?" He asked. "Nothing!" Kanan raised an eyebrow at the high pitched answer with the slight crack. Kanan just looked at her before shaking his head. "Hera's up in the common room and Sabine and Zeb are getting ready."

"Great!" Kanan worked not to stare. He's never heard the girl so…chipper and happy. "Let's go Chopper!" Ezra skipped- _skipped_ -out of the room with Chopper following behind her. Kanan decided that now would be a good time to get a nice strong cup of caf. "It's too early for this." He groaned. It was much too early to figure out young teenage girls.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Ezra has heard of the Hutts as they are notorious in the Outer Rim. Jabba the Hutt, one of the most influential beings in the Outer Rim Territories who controls hyper lanes and owns slaves is the one everyone has heard of. There are many other things that she's heard but really doesn't want to know if they're true or not. Some of the things she's heard already turn her stomach and she can take quite a bit but some things take it too far. Avoiding the bounty hunters will be a top priority if she can help it and to not draw attention to herself. Vizago was always careful about her identity and only allowing people he can either trust to an extent, people he wants blackmail on or ones he can easily crush to see what went on behind the establishments. Ezra violently shoved those memories to the back of her mind, not wanting to get overwhelmed with them. Today she needs a clear head for what she wants to pull.

"Chopper, if you help and not tell anyone, _especially_ Kanan and Hera, I'll get you a fancy upgrade for one of your parts." Chopper whirled in excitement. "No blaster." Ezra quickly followed up with. Chopper let out a low whine. "No, I don't want the crew to kill me in my sleep because I let you get a blaster. I don't have _that_ much of a death wish thank you. Any parts we should look out for?" Chopper went over his internal diagnostics for any parts that need a major repair or just wants a newer model of. He came up with a small list. Ezra struggled to keep up. "So…a new leg, rocket booster and a…what welder?" Chopper brought the small arm out and light up the small blowtorch. Ezra's confusion cleared up at that. "Got it. I'll see what I can do but no promises alright?" Chopper let out a small series of angry beeps of not getting everything. "Now, now Chopper, I need some things to bribe you with now don't I?"

Chopper stopped before going over what she said. She tricked him! Ezra gave a small huff of laughter at the angry sounds Chopper was making. But she did make a note to keep a look out for those parts and get one if she can afford it. They walked to the common area where Kanan and Hera were already sitting.

"Anything you want to tell us?" Hera asked.

"No…" Ezra drew out in confusion. Kanan snorted softly into his caf. Ezra just sent him a look that he ignored. They waited a while for Sabine and Zeb to come. Sabine wore lighter armour and had her helmet under her arm while Zeb had his bo-rifle slung across his back.

"Alright. All we're doing here is looking for jobs and contacts, along with anything that will be useful for us."

"Any parts to keep an eye out for?" Ezra asked.

Hera shook her head. "The _Ghost_ is fine right now Ezra but thank you."

"Sabine and Hera will take one section while Zeb and I handle another. Ezra-" Kanan hesitated. "You and Chopper stay out of trouble okay?" Ezra's eyes held a demonic glint. "Of course we will." She said with a small grin. Sabine rolled her eyes at the younger girl, not believing her for a second. "We meet back here by 2100 standard and keep your comm links on." Everyone got up to leave after that. Ezra jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder but calmed down when it was only Hera. "Are you sure you'll be alright Ezra?" Ezra gave a cocky grin. "I've been doing this stuff for years. Just not on this scale before." With that she and Chopper left. Hera watched them with concerned eyes before heading out after Sabine.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Ezra looked around in awe. Everything was open with wares, food and junkyards everywhere. It was like heaven for her. "Come on Chopper, let's look around first, then we find the tables." Chopper just warbled and beeped before following her. If she got in trouble it was not his fault. Grabbing some food from a stall, Ezra looked around the junk shops, looking for anything of interest. There were a couple legs for Chopper but he would have none of them as only a specific model will do. "Stupid picky droid." Ezra muttered. She looked around the junk shop with little enthusiasm. Most of the things in the shop are quite literally junk with no value to it other than a couple old holocrons that she bought (or took, depending on the owner).

Determined to keep looking she left the shop for the next one when she paused and looked around, watching another person looking around a bit too obviously to make sure no one is watching. Intrigued now Ezra kept walking before slowing down a bit and sliding onto the side street. She didn't really know or care whether Chopper was following her right this minute; she wanted to know what was going to happen. She ducked into the alley and kept walking like she had a purpose to be there, albeit a bit slower than normal. Watching the person go through a door, Ezra was now intrigued. Creeping up to a window she cautiously peered inside before ducking. Looking behind her she saw Chopper rolling towards her. Waving him over she pressed a finger to her lips so he would keep quiet. Chopper rolled up towards her as she looked up to the window sill. "Can you hear what's going on?" She whispered. Chopper merely popped out his listening device and had it placed at window level just out of sight. They were still for a few minutes until Chopper retracted his device and started rolling away. Taking the hint Ezra quickly stood and did a little jog before walking away. She went around the corner before crouching down.

"What did they say?" Chopper warbled. "A low stakes table is there with high stakes later tonight?" She asked in intrigue. Disappointed to miss the high stakes but knew logically that she couldn't even buy her way into the high stakes even if she wanted to. "Well, guess I have to go and see what it's all about then." Chopper beeped and waved his arms around. Ezra gave him a flat look. "I'm not betting you if that's what you're worried about." Chopper beeped wildly at that accusation. "What? I don't want Hera to skin my hide! Besides, I have something they may want, if only because of the rarity of them." She caressed her blaster before entering the building.

It was a low lit building with a couple tables of people playing cards. From what Ezra could establish, there were defiantly some bounty hunters there. Oh well. She watched from the side for a few hands on the one table before going up to them as one person left with an angry look on his face. "Want to deal me in?" She asked sweetly. The other three at the table all laughed. "Sorry sweet cheeks. Why don't you run along to your mommy?" Ezra's anger spiked at that comment. "I guess you wouldn't want these then." She placed her two blasters on the table. The three leaned in staring at them. "The ELG 3A and Q2 from Naboo." The one looked at her sharply. "How did a little girl like you get the royal blasters from a mid rim planet?" Ezra smirked. "Wouldn't you like to know. Now, the ELG 3A is my entry fee for the table. Is that acceptable?" The three looked at each other before turning to her with bloodthirsty grins. "That is acceptable. And if you cheat well…"

"I can guess for myself." Ezra said dryly. So the hands were dealt. Ezra carefully schooled her mask on and would lose a hand every so often before it came down between her and a smuggler. She carefully looked at her cards. If he had a better hand than her then she loses her blaster. But if she wins…looking at her hand Ezra can safely assume that there was a chance that he has a better hand than her but it was a chance she was willing to take. Eyebrows rose when she upped the stakes. "Are you sure about that girly?" Ezra just looked at him. "Are you going to match or fold?" She asked. The man laughed before matching her stake. They both stared down each other, waiting for the other to flinch. Ezra was starting to feel uncertain but maintained her blank look. "Now we'll see who wins." They both set their cards down.

Ezra had to do a double take. Her hand beat out his, if only by one card. She let out a breath she was holding as she took all her winning, trying not to cackle at all the money she now has. "You cheated." Ezra's head shot up. "Excuse me?" She said with fire burning in her eyes. "My hand was barely better than yours and it wasn't the best hand to begin with. Either ask for a rematch or stop whining." The man snarled at her when someone came up behind him. "She won fair and square. Not cards up her sleeves, nor using her droid either. If you want to make a fuss take it outside." Ezra's eyes never left him until he turned the corner and left. "Thank you."

"It wasn't for you." The man said harshly. "More for the fact that the bartender tends to get pretty violent when a fight breaks out."

"Noted."

"By the way, you're a little young to be doing this aren't you?"

"Age is rarely considered when life is determined to make you a whipping boy."

"And snarky too. Tell you what," Ezra's eyes narrowed. "Play a friendly game for a hundred credits and I'll give you a proposition and if you don't like it you can even walk away."

"And if I win?"

"You don't have to stick around." Ezra's curiosity got the better of her and sat back down at the table. "Since it's a friendly game, mind telling me your name?"

"Than." She said immediately. "Well then Than, it's Condray." Ezra raised an eyebrow at the odd name but brushed it off, instead set up their game. Twenty minutes later Ezra was listening to the proposition, still trying to figure out how she lost. "Join my crew." Ezra's brain shorted out. "What?" She said flatly.

"Join my crew. We're always looking for new people."

"That doesn't really sound ominous at all." She quipped back sarcastically. "I would have to decline because I'm already part of a crew but," she said slyly. "We're always looking for more contacts for jobs."

"I'll think about it. Are you here tomorrow at the pod race?"

"Most probable yes."

"Then I'll have an answer for you by then." The two got up to leave when Ezra called back to him. "We don't do drug smuggling or slaves, just to get that out there." Condray just nodded before leaving.

Chopper knocked into her leg. "What? It was only a hundred credits. Still have more than what I walked in with." Chopper kept warbling as they left. "Yes, I had a back-up plan in case things went south and yes I'm still looking for those parts." Ezra grouched. "Come on, the junk yards are still open." She and Chopper ducked into a small shop that looked promising. Looking around Ezra could see parts for many different ships, comms, datapads, datasticks (she pocketed a few that got a small hymm), and a small array of blasters that had her drooling. Looking around she looked at the one with shining eyes before the hair on her neck stood up and put it back. Looking around she even found a small array of rocket boosters.

"Oh Chopper," she called in a sing song voice. "Look what I found." Chopper came rolling over before beeping in excitement and started going crazy. "Chopper! Calm down. Which one do you want?" Chopper pointed to the one and Ezra grabbed it before setting it on the ground. "Want to test it?" She asked. "In here." She quickly added on. Not getting shot at would be a nice thing. "Here." She took off the old one before placing the new one on Chopper. Chopper beep in fury. "Well how am I supposed to know how this goes on you?!" Chopper warbled before the booster slipped on just right. "Okay, try it." Chopper tried it and he flew up a good five feet before doing some adjustments. When he came back down Chopper cheeped and warbled in excitement. "Guess we know which one you want." She said dryly. "I need to pay for this so take it off." Chopper shook his head in stubbornness. "Chopper," Ezra said in a warning voice. "Take. It. Off." Chopper led her on a merry chase until she grabbed a small taser and shocked Chopper enough to get it off. "I don't exactly want to die. So either let me pay for this or else no rocket booster for you." Chopper moaned and whined before letting Ezra take it off him, promising retribution on the girl.

Ezra went to pay for it all when she felt a small tendril in her mind directing her in another direction. Going towards the box of junk she initially dismissed, Ezra frowned as she looked in the box of wires and rusted parts for whatever was calling for her. She came across a weird shaped looking cube that looked similar to Kanan's but not quite. Deciding to take it anyway, Ezra took her purchases to the counter. She waited impatiently for the dealer to show up. Right when she was about to leave, a voice in Huttenese called out to her. Looking at Chopper for some hope of translation, Chopper was already waiting by the door. Huffing, Ezra tuned back before jumping at the site of the huge alien staring at her. She merely held out a chip she won from the card game, hoping it'll cover everything. She didn't even want to negotiate (exception being if he tries to rob her), with this alien being ten times her size and would squish her like a loth rat. The alien swiped the chip through and tossed it back to her. Ezra gathered her things and dashed out the door. "Let's get this booster on you and no need to mention this to Kanan or Hera." She held up a credit chip she lifted from the alien. Chopper warbled in protest. Thus starting their long argument back to the ship.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Kanan wanted to bang his head. There was Ezra arguing with Chopper before they shook on something. He really didn't want to know what those two have been up to. He and Zeb didn't have much luck but Sabine and Hera seem hopeful about their day. Hopefully Ezra didn't cause too much trouble. "Hey kid." He said while walking up to her. Her eyes let their guard down very slightly before tipping her head in acknowledgement. "Kanan." She said simply.

"We're leaving."

"Already?" If Kanan didn't know any better he would say that she was whining. "But we just got here and I was thinking maybe one more day. You know, because of the Boonta Eve Classic that will be going on? And there'll be more people here as well." If Ezra was more carefree or careless she would have her eyes wide and be on her knees begging for them to stay the one extra day. She wanted to see the podrace in person damn it!

Kanan gave her a look. "More people are what we want to avoid." He said flatly.

Ezra clenched her teeth as she stared at him. "We may be good for money right now but who's to say once we get low we won't have a job lined up? Not to mention right now is a good time to be here." Ezra pointed out, not at all ashamed that she's trying to manipulate them. She was just getting a good feeling right now for being here.

Kanan blew out the air harshly before turning to Hera. "It's up to you." He said not wanting to make the decision.

Hera gave him an unimpressed look at this before a look of concentration crossed her face. "Is it only the pod race you want to stay for or is there something more?"

"There's something…" Ezra struggled to describe it. "I don't really know but I need to be here tomorrow." Hera sighed before looking at Kanan. Ezra did bring up good points, not to mention that the Boonta Eve always brought in more people who needed people like them for jobs and it doesn't hurt to see if there isn't a job before going to Falcrum. "Alright but only for tomorrow. We'll be gone the next day no questions." Ezra just nodded before walking onto the ship with a full blown grin on her face. "I get to see the Boonta Eve Classic in _person._ " She said in awe to herself. Doing a small jig in the hallway she quickly pounced on the keypad to let herself in her room before she bounced up onto her bed with a happy smile.


	18. Pod Racing

When Ezra got up the next morning she got ready in record speed. She was drinking some water and trying some food she's seen Kanan eat when Hera and Kanan both came in. "Well you're up early."

Ezra looked up at them. "This will be the only time I'll get to see the Boonta Eve Classic, of course I'm up early!" She grumbled but the two adults could see the excitement shining in her eyes at this.

Hera she gave a small smile before grabbing something to eat while Kanan just drank some caf. Ezra was all but bouncing on her feet as she kept glancing at the door for Zeb and Sabine to come. Hera almost smiled at the impatience in Ezra's stance and look. Ezra paced around waiting impatiently for the other two to come. "Come on!"

"Hold on, we're coming." Sabine grumbled. She is _not_ a morning person at all. Looking at the caf with a blank look, Sabine's hand reached out and slowly brought it back to her. As the fumes floated up to her, a blissful look settled on her face. "This smells good."

"Then drink it." Ezra said blandly.

Sabine shot her a look while curling around her drink. "I need to appreciate it more before drinking it." Ezra had a thoroughly confused look on her face as Zeb came in with Chopper right behind him.

"What's with the look kid?"

"Sabine…" Ezra had no idea how to phrase it.

Zeb took one look at Sabine before nodding. "Word of advice kid. Never mess with Sabine's caf is you wanna live." Ezra just nodded, not really taking it in as she took in the strange sight. Kanan and Hera ignored it, being used to it. "Zeb, Sabine and Chopper; you don't have to come with us if you want to do something else. Kanan and I will go with Ezra to the stadium."

Ezra wanted to grumble but held her tongue in the face of the fact that they were even willing to let her watch this. If it meant having babysitters then she won't put up a fuss.

"Are you crazy Hera? All those pod racers and the possible art work." Sabine's eyes went dreamy at the thought of the pod racers and not the race itself. Zeb just shrugged.

"Might as well see what the big deal is about this race." Ezra had an insulted look on her face.

"It's the largest pod race in the Outer Rim!" Zeb gave her an unimpressed look before looking at Kanan.

"So when're we headin' out?"

"As soon as everyone's ready."

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Ezra nearly vibrated in excitement. "The pod race, the pod race!" She nearly squealed. Hera and Kanan gave each other amused looks as her excited whispers.

"This has to be the first time I've seen her let her guard down." Kanan said. Hera nodded.

"If this is what it takes than I'm all for it." The two watched Ezra as she scanned the area for a bet person.

Looking back, she saw Hera raise an eyebrow before bounding away for a moment, still in their line of sight. She wasn't _that_ stupid to pull the same stunt within weeks of each other. Kanan saw Ezra speak with a heavy set alien who wrote something down and shook hands with her before coming back.

"That better have been only your money." He said as they sat down. Hera procured two viewing screens for them as Ezra sat in the row ahead of them. Ezra gave a cocky grin.

"I know what I'm doing." She had her name down for a pretty handsome bet and if she won it than she'll be set for a while and if she lost…with all the winnings she made yesterday can cover it even with the odds she's betting on. Kanan gave her a weary look at that grin knowing that nothing good will come from it. He turned back around and saw Hera giving him a sympathetic look at his frustration.

"At least we know where she is." She said quietly over the dull roar of the crowd as the podrace opening ceremony started.

"For now." Kanan said under his breath. A loud roar washed over them as the flag bearers all came out and the announcers began with one in Huttese and the other in Basic. Kanan gave a side glance and could see Ezra almost vibrating with excitement as the racers names all came over. None were human of course but there were a couple that Kanan thought might have a chance at winning, if they don't all crash first.

Ezra could feel the excitement build up in her as engines started to come to life. The podracers all look amazing in her eyes from what she can gleam. Looking at her screen in her lap she decided to take a look at the different racers and their statistics. She placed her bet on a seventeen year old Gneoise, a devaronian from what the description says racing with a Plug-2 Behemoth. Even though Ezra didn't know her pod racers, all she can tell is that this one is huge with impressive speed. Ezra wasn't sure why she bet on him, just that she has a really good feeling about this. Flicking through the rest of the contestants she saw that there are some racers from previous years and somehow didn't get killed in the process. The previous champion got killed in some sort of skirmish within months of him winning so right now there's no defending champion according to the pad.

Ezra looked at the screen again, scrutinizing it. All the different flags and droids carrying them are interesting in a boring sort of way that Ezra didn't really care about; just tapping her foot while mentally yelling for the announcers to start the race while listening to them announce all the racers. She was dozing lightly when she heard the announcers come on. "Racers, start your engines!"

Sand started to blow around as the engines started to flare to life. Ezra bounced in her seat, eyes sparkling in delight at the scene before her.

Kanan looked over and couldn't help the small quirk of his lips at Ezra's excitement. He has never seen her so excited, so…happy before. He looked at Hera who gave him a smile and they both turned back to the race. A gong rang clearly and the racers took off.

Ezra was on the edge of her seat in excitement while clutching the screen. She watched and cringed as one of the pods crashed into the canyon wall. She watched in nervousness as her person was in fourth place going into the tunnel. "Come on, come on." She repeated while bouncing in her seat in excitement as the racers started on the stretch of going through the arches. One of the pods knocked into the other, sending it flying and it exploded in a ball of fire. The pod racers tried sabotaging each other constantly; including the devaronian which Ezra paid no mind to as one pod racer's engines somehow came off, sending the seat of it spinning on the ground.

"The final lap!" Everyone roared in excitement as Ezra's bet battled it out for first in a three way race as the others racers had no chance of catching up to the devaronian. Ezra kept her eyes glued to the screen as the front racers came out into the open stretch of land for the final leg of the lap. The dug in the race kept throwing parts in the way of the other two racers but kept their distance. Ezra's eyes sparkled in excitement as her person took out the dug by manoeuvring around the arches in the latter leg of the course. "Come on!" She screamed.

Kanan looked at her and shook his head with a small smile at her passion and enthusiasm for the sport. It may not be his type of thing but it looks like even Hera was enjoying it from the way her eyes looked.

It was the last stretch of the race and it's down to the last two contestants as Ezra didn't care about the others who lagged behind. "Go, go, go," she chanted, eyes glued to the screen and the entrance where the racers were coming in to. Just when it looked like she was about to lose, the devaronian somehow put an extra burst of speed that had him pull out in front, winning him the race. Ezra leapt up in joy as he won, cheering with the rest of the crowd. Even though she won some extra money, she couldn't help but think that this is one of the best days she's had in a very long time. She looked at Hera who nodded. Ezra took off so she could get her winnings. She enjoyed the feeling of having money as she gathered her winnings.

"Enjoying yourself?"

Ezra jumped and put a hand on her blaster before relaxing. "Has anyone ever told you that sneaking up on people shortens your life?" She asked.

Condray nodded. "At least once a week." He said with a grin.

Ezra gave him a flat look. "You said that you'd have an answer today." Ezra reminded him.

"Ah yes, I did didn't I _Than_."

Ezra's eyes narrowed at the way he said the name but didn't say anything.

"Here." He tossed her a small comm. "If I need anything it'll be through that."

"Thanks." She said. "Got a time frame or anything?"

Condray just smirked, earning him a deadpan look from Ezra. "Enjoy your time Than."

Ezra just stood there with the comm in her hand after he left. Shaking her head she quickly left the area. Searching the area, she spotted Zeb by one of the entrances. Jogging up to him, Ezra had a hard time keeping her grin off her face at the amount she's won from the past couple days.

"Got your money kid?" He asked gruffly.

"Yup!" She chirped. She followed Zeb back to the rest of the group. The crew looked at Ezra's gleeful face with her pouch full of credits. "I'll eat like a queen for a month!" Hera gave a fond smile at Ezra while shaking her head.

"We better get going. Did your person pan out Ezra?" Kanan asked.

Ezra gave a shrug. "He said he'll contact us if he needs anything." Kanan nodded at that before turning and leads the group back towards the _Ghost._ They decided to stop at a bar for some drinks before going to the ship. Ezra sulked as she was only allowed blue milk while everyone else enjoyed their alcohol. "You're barely two years older than me!" Ezra whined at the unfairness of it all.

"It was this or nothing kid." Ezra glared at the glass at that comment. Zeb started his third drink when his ears pricked at the sounds of shouting. It got louder and louder. "Uh, Kanan, something's happening outside." Ezra pointed out with some nervousness seeping into her voice.

"It's Tatooine, there's always something happening." Kanan said brushing it off.

"I know that, but-" The sound of shouting and blaster fire made them all jump.

"What's going on?" Sabine asked in confusion as she put her drink down.

Hera and Kanan gave each other looks of concern. "We better head back to the ship." The group turned to leave when blaster fire erupted from the tavern. Ezra immediately went under the table at the sound while everyone else drew their own weapons. People were shooting at everyone and everything as things spiralled out of control inside.

"This isn't good." Ezra said while still under the table.

"What the kriff is going on?" Zeb asked in agitation.

"That is a good question Zeb." Hera replied as she watched for any blasters pointing in their direction.

"Sabine, Ezra, Chopper, head back to the ship now."

"Really Kanan?" Sabine asked.

"Just do it!"

Sabine scowled before grabbing Era and ran outside where people were running in all directions. "Run!" Sabine yelled. She lost her grip on the younger girl when people knocked into her.

Ezra quickly took off running towards the _Ghost_ after getting separated from Sabine when she got shoved into a small side street. She kept running when she nearly knocked into some people and got shoved into the wall. Ezra immediately kicked at the offender and turned around. Only to find a person three times bigger than her with blasters with barrels bigger than her fist staring down at her. Swallowing, Ezra's eyes darted to the side before she took off running, dodging his meaty hands. She immediately turned the corner right when she heard a blaster go off in the direction she's in. "Well, he's mad." She said sardonically. Turning down a street she kept running until she skidded to a stop at the sound of blaster fire. "That's not good." Ezra said to herself. People came running and screaming towards her as she turned to run again. Ezra turned corners while running, not caring where she was going at this point until she tripped and fell onto her hands and knees before rolling onto her front. "Ow." She whined. Her hands were scrapped from the small rocks and her pants ripped at the knees, making her scowl. Grunting she got on her elbows when a hand came into her vision.

"Need a hand?"

Rather than answer him, Ezra grabbed his hand and got hauled up as the rumbling sound of a heard of people came closer. She fought her tunneling vision by shaking her head until the dizziness feeling left. "We need to go." Ezra said urgently. The two took off running until they ran by some run down houses. Ezra was surprised at how they looked. Her partner grimanced.

"Slave quarters."

Ezra could only stare at all this. She knew slavery still exists, just like drug trafficking still exists. She turned to her companion and was shocked at how young he looked. A young human male who looked around her age with bleach blond hair and a still innocent air around him. Ezra held the urge to crush it. "Do I get a name?" The boy blinked at Ezra's question. "If you don't answer I'll start making things up and you won't like it." She said lightly with a small grin.

The boy gave her a quizzical look before replying. "Luke. The name's Luke."

"Ezra. Just Ezra." The two shook and Ezra could feel power inside Luke swirling deep. Her eyes widened in shock at it and didn't let any of this show on her face as they dropped their hands. "So what happens now?" Ezra asked. The two started walking again away from the slave quarters.

"I have to get back to my Aunt and Uncle since we separated in the riot. Uncle was looking for some parts for the moisture vaporator and selling water since the podrace was happening."

"Did you see what happened?" Ezra asked in curiosity.

Luke shook his head. "Not all of it. I saw the flag parade and the start before I got dragged away to help with the supplies, but I did hear the end commentary."

"It was awesome." Ezra had stars in her eyes as she thought about the race. "Not as dramatic as the famous one from nearly thirty years ago, but still amazing. There were three still in the running by the final lap…" Ezra just chattered on about the race as they walked around. "Luke, where are we?" She asked. She hadn't come by here before.

Luke grimanced. "Just some old junk shops and shady dealers. We don't come here often but I've always been told to avoid this part."

"Do you always do as you're told?" Ezra asked curiously. Luke just shrugged at that. Ezra rolled her eyes at that. "What is with me and attracting the goody two shoes?" She muttered.

Luke looked offended at that. "I'll have you know I've threaded the needle in Beggar's Canyon!" Ezra had a confused look on her face. Luke sighed. "You know the part of the track of the pod race where all the canyons and that smooth dried river bed are?" Ezra nodded slowly. "There a tall rock formation, not sure if you saw it on the cameras, but there's just a large enough hole for a skyhopper to fit in it. It's the mark of a true pilot if you can fly through that thing." Ezra looked intrigued at that.

"I'm assuming you know someone who's done it then?" Luke nodded, pride in his eyes.

"My friend Biggs and I are the only two that I know of that's done it and survived." Ezra had a slightly impressed look at that declaration.

"It is impressive, I'll give you that."

"There's really nothing much else to do here except for racing and building droids when you have the spare parts when you're in the middle of the desert."

"So I take it then you don't live near any settlements." Luke shook his head.

"We live near Anchorhead by Mos Eisley but since Mos Espa is bigger and because it's the Boonta Eve Classic, Uncle decided it would be better to come here." Luke didn't mention the fact of Aunt Beru persuading Uncle Owen so he can see parts of the race.

"Do you have a comm?"

Luke shook his head. "We barely made enough money from the last harvest to pick up essential supplies, let alone frivolous supplies as it would be put.

" "Come on let's find your Aunt and Uncle."

"What about your folks?"

"They're fine. I just have to get back to the ship before sun down." Ezra said. It wasn't exactly a lie but not the complete truth either. The two walked around trying to find Luke's Aunt and Uncle while they made small chat, not really delving into anything personal. _'At least he has some sense in that regard,'_ she thought as they talked. It would do no good if he gives away personal information like it's nothing. After walking for a while, Ezra finally got fed up with Luke whining about how hard his Uncle is on him and how boring his life is. "Will you stop it?" She snapped, her patience finally breaking. "You should be thankful that those people even took you in after your parents died! They didn't have to and yet they did. Mine were taken when I was a child and left to fend for myself on the streets for years! You think your life is hard? You have an Aunt willing to love you and I bet your Uncle loves you in his own way. Me? I had nothing. I had no one for years so don't you dare complain when I'm around."

Luke stayed quiet after that, thinking about what she said. Was it all true? Did she really live alone all this time by herself with no one to depend on? The two walked in silence until they came across the arena. Ezra scanned the area, getting a nasty feeling when the Force screamed at her. "Look out!" Ezra tackled Luke to the ground when a blaster shot went over their heads. "What the kriff?" Ezra asked as she looked up. She couldn't sense the person at all. "You okay?"

"Yeah, fine." Luke got out as they both scrambled up, looking for any sort of cover. "Who is that?"

"How should I know?" Ezra shot back. "Do you have any idea where your Aunt and Uncle may be?"

Luke looked around with uncertainty before pointing in a direction. "That way."

Ezra gave him a sceptical look but followed anyway. She kept an eye out and had her senses on high alert in case the assassin came back. Why target Luke? He was just a farm-boy with no connections to anything. If anything she would be the…Era furrowed her eyebrows in thought.

Luke glanced back and saw Ezra frowning. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine farm-boy." Ezra muttered distractedly.

Luke snorted at the nickname. _'Better than Wormy anyway,'_ he thought as they weaved through the streets. "Hey Ezra, I'm-"

"Don't apologize." Ezra said shortly. "It's fine."

"No, it's not." Luke insisted.

Ezra stopped and looked into Luke's eyes. "Look, I've had years to adjust to this and it's not your fault either so don't apologize for what the Empire did. It's not like you reported them." Luke's eyes widened at that piece of information while Ezra kicked herself for saying that. _'Why am I so comfortable around him?'_ She asked herself. And so nice? There was something about his presence that felt soothing, almost like…Ezra stopped that train of thought right there, not wanting to think about it.

Luke looked around for any sign of his Aunt or Uncle when he decided to try by their speeder which was farther away. Wanting to groan at that, he took Ezra's hand to get through the crowd. Or tried to.

Ezra jerked her hand out of his before realizing what happened. She just shook her head in self-deprecation. "I don't do well with people touching me." She said, trying to sound apologetically. It wasn't Luke's fault, he didn't know.

Luke gave an apologetic smile before turning back to find the family speeder. "If you're not from Tatooine, where are you from?" Luke asked curiously. Ezra answered him knowing it wouldn't hurt.

"Lothal. It's also in the outer rim and it's about a day in hyperspace to get there."

"What's the planet like?" Ezra took pity on the boy, knowing that he would've grown up on this desolate planet. "It has some spiralling rock formations out in the grasslands. Golden grass as far as the eye can see. There are lakes spotted around with one right on the edge of the Capital. Big buildings with a cadet academy on the outskirts." Luke was having trouble imagining the lakes as water is precious on Tatooine. "On another subject, how can you stand the heat?" Ezra asked. Nearly whining but that's not the point.

Luke just shrugged. "I'm just used to it that's all."

"You would not like some of the planets I've heard from pilots then." Ezra said with a grin. "I've heard that some are so cold that there's only ice and snow."

Luke's face at that nearly had Ezra cackling. "Of course, Lothal got its own fair of snow but only for a couple months out of the year." Ezra suppressed a shiver. Those months were the absolute worst in her life. Not only trying to find food, but also shelter so she didn't freeze to death. She was brought out her musings by a shout.

"Luke! Where have you been?" A woman came running up. By Luke's relaxed posture, Ezra speculated that this is his Aunt.

"Aunt Beru!" Luke said in relief. He gave her a tight hug in return. "I got lost in the riot. Oh, this is Ezra." He gestured to Ezra who was looking down. "She helped me get away from the crowd." Beru gave a small smile to the young girl who looked a little gaunt and had ripped up pants with blood on her knees.

"Pleased to meet you Ezra and thank you for taking care of Luke."

Ezra just shrugged. "Only trying to help ma'am." She said while peaking up. Beru looked like one of those people who couldn't hurt a fly. Which in Ezra's mind meant that if you threaten anything she holds dear than you're essentially screwed.

"None of that ma'am stuff Ezra. I'm guessing you came to see the podrace then?" Beru's smile tightened slightly at the mention of the pod race but Ezra didn't really take any notice. She just nodded in excitement. "It was amazing! I just wish I had the talent to do that." She sighed wistfully.

Beru looked at Luke. "I'm going to go call your Uncle who went out looking for you. Don't move." She said with a pointed finger. Luke looked slightly offended at that. Ezra couldn't help but snort at the interaction between the two.

"I take it you'll be going back to your farm then?" Luke nodded with the slightest of scowls.

"Couple more years then I can get off this rock." Ezra just nodded. The two stood in silence waiting for the adults to show.

"Luke!" A voice barked. Luke's head shot up.

"Uncle Owen!"

Ezra took in the man's shaggy appearance. He had a stern look and posture but if you looked you can see the pure relief in his eyes for his nephew.

"Where were you?" He demanded.

"Got lost in the crowd." Luke said. "I found Ezra and we waited for everything to die down before coming to the speeders." He rubbed the back of his head while omitting the part of them getting shot at. "We were a bit farther away than I thought."

Owen just nodded before looking at the girl. She had a posture that screamed weary and alert like she will run at any sign of danger. But her eyes…her eyes look dead for the most part if no one is looking. He's seen this in street kids the few times he's gone into town and usually within a couple months they were never seen again. "Thank you for keeping Luke company." He said gruffly. Ezra wanted to shrug. It wasn't _that_ big of a deal was it?

"It wasn't a problem. Besides," she said with a grin. "It was fun watching him go pole axed at the thought of lakes and planets that aren't a thousand degrees. Oh, and the mention of snow."

Beru gave a small smile at the girl, glad she never mentioned anything about piloting or really leaving the planet. Just repeating things she's heard from other people or coming from a milder planet. Although Beru did enjoy imagining Luke's face at those subjects. She does admit that would be funny. "Well Ezra, why don't we go and find your folks?" Ezra quickly shook her head.

"It's fine, I can find them on my own. Besides," she looked at the setting suns. "It's getting late and Luke said you have a long way to go. It was nice meeting you." Ezra turned to leave when Luke called back to her. "Good luck with everything!"

Ezra turned with a puzzled expression before shrugging it off and left. Luke gave a sad look getting the feeling he might never see her again.

Beru and Owen gave each other looks. The girl has had a hard life from the look in her eyes. But there was something deep in them, something they doubt even she was aware of. Hope and happiness. "Come on Luke, let's go home." Beru said, guiding Luke to the speeder. "And don't think you're getting out of a talking about earlier." Owen warned. "

Yes Uncle Owen." Luke said more subdued. But he thought back to what Ezra said and shook his head as they left Mos Espa.


	19. Leaving Tatooine

Ezra walked away from Luke and his guardians in deep thought. She couldn't help but wonder if she's in over her head right now and is kicking herself for the mistakes she's done. Tatooine doesn't seem to abide by the same rules that Lothal does, her first mistake. Her second is being arrogant and way too cocky. Everyone on Lothal knew she was Vizago's girl and therefore couldn't be touched since he could crush those who did within days. The problem was that the protection was only to her, and no one else connected to her. She didn't know that until after  _it_ happened and nearly strangled Vizago for it. Ezra shook her head, trying to get rid of the unpleasant memories it brought back. Now, how to get back to the  _Ghost…_ She still has her comm and hopes that it's working but from not hearing it beep at all, she must have crushed it from her fall or being slammed against the wall. She needs one for her wrist, it's official now.

Gritting her teeth, Ezra made her way back through the slave quarters, taking in the silence from everyone and not seeing a soul. It made the force unsettling and wanted to scratch at the itch it was now giving her. She sped up her walking, wanting to get away from all of this before she starts running. Her senses on high alert, she feels like she's prey out here. The low buildings with the tall ledges makes for perfect sniper positions and with it starting to get dark out…she was so screwed if she's caught out here at night. Her deep blue eyes flicker to all corners and places that can be used to jump someone. That smuggler might have something to do with the sniper attack from earlier. She's seen people be killed for less in the back streets of Lothal, and in the open and desolate fields the planet holds. Shivering slightly Ezra looked around and cursed in her head for the fact that everything looks the same to her. "Damn it," she breathed as she came to another dead end. Taking out her comm, she wanted to throw it on the ground after seeing the cracked screen and the torn wire from a piece that stuck out and seemed to have cut right through it.

"Just great." She said sarcastically. "Now what am I going to do?" Wandering around was much too dangerous and her feeling like prey was not helping matters at all. "Fine mess you're in Bridger. Now they'll never let you go on your own." She nearly wilted at the fact her freedom can be revoked from this. It wasn't her fault this time though! She didn't do it on purpose, it was a riot! If you really want to get trampled, go against the flow, what a good way to get broken bones! Gritting her teeth, she clenched a fist and kept moving.

Walking from what felt like hours between the look alike buildings, Ezra found the arena again. She felt a tendril of something brush against her mind. Paying it no heed she felt the force scream in her head, dropping when she felt the heat from a blaster bolt nearly graze her head and quickly dove for cover. "Dammit!" Taking out her blaster she held it up and waited. When no other sounds happened she peeked around the corner and saw nothing. "Brilliant." She deadpanned to herself. Deciding to leave, she stood up and turned around before scrambling backwards when a fist came flying towards her. Two bulky aliens stood in front of her. "Okay, I really did piss him off," she said faintly. She lunged to the left as bits of flying rock came back to her from the blaster shot.

Ezra got on her hands and tried to sweep the one's feet from under them. When that didn't work she scurried behind him before jumping up and using all her strength to kick him in the back of the one knee. So busy with the one she couldn't dodge the fist that came towards her. Gasping as she went flying, Ezra hit the ground before rolling to a stop. Coughing and getting on her forearms, she got up on her shaking feet and decided it'll be better to run right now. Looking straight at them, she made a run for it as the two aliens followed her. Hoping that there'll be no more snipers. Ezra tried to remember where she first came from that morning.

Looking around she feels like that was the right bar they were in. With the suns setting quickly, her panic built more quickly. Gritting her teeth while sucking in harsh breaths, Ezra nearly tripped over her feet she heard a blaster from behind her and a red bolt flying beside her. "Won't you give up?" She asked in exasperation. Her mind raced. The two aliens were gaining quickly on her so an all-out fight is inevitable but how to even the playing field? Ezra's gaze turned upwards to the roof tops and the side stairs to them. A small smile graced her face.  _'That should work.'_ Making a sharp turn Ezra leapt up to the stairs before scrambling up them and jumped a few roof tops before stopping to try and get her bearings. The sunset and darkening sky told Ezra she needs to be fast, but what to do? Looking around she looks at all the buildings that all look the same before spotting a couple large areas that have no roof.  _'That must be where the ships are.'_ Running and jumping the rooftops…should be within ten minutes. The silence started to get to the girl who shook her head from paranoia before taking off. Feeling the rush of adrenaline brought a smile to the girl's face as she kept an eye on her goal.  _'Almost there.'_ She leapt from the rooftop and nearly touched the next one when something wrapped around her ankle and pulled her down.

Ezra couldn't help the startled scream as she plummeted towards the ground. Flying to the ground, Ezra felt the ground hit her while stars entered her vision and the inability to breath. Her chest heaved but no air got in. Ezra gasped in a mouthful of air when her brain started to work again. Trying to get up on her knees, a kick had her flat on her stomach. Grimacing in pain she did an awkward roll away and got up on shaking feet. Back against the wall, she took out her blasters and held them up. The two aliens grinned before they dropped them when she fired both off towards them. Only their good timing had them avoid being skewed. Ezra clenched her jaw as pain shot up her leg.  _'Small strain, I can still run with that,'_ she thought to herself. Righting herself up against the wall, Ezra made a mad dash towards the ship port, praying that she's in the right area. Looking behind her, she didn't notice the stone her foot tripped over, sending her tumbling to the ground. Wide eyes stared back as they were almost on her when blaster shots from in front of her went off. Her head whipped around and sagged in relief.

Kanan stood in front of her, grim face with his blaster out. The aliens (with one clutching their arm), was about to thunder up to them when the rest of the crew came into view with Zeb holding his bo-rifle with a menacing smile. The two aliens looked at each other and left, knowing that a little girl was nothing to die over. Kanan watched the two aliens run away. His eyes held contempt and disgust with those two low life's. Looking down at his apprentice, she was covered in sand dust with scrapped hands as shaking arms tried to haul herself up. He held out a hand to help her out and saw the contemplated look on her face but ultimately got herself up. Torn pants and the favouring of one leg…what did she get up to? He can't yell at her too much since Sabine rushed to them in a panic after they caught up, saying that they got separated in the crowd and immediately went out looking for her but couldn't find the young teenager. After searching for over an hour, Hera kept trying her comm but only got static, even after Sabine tweaked it to boost the signal. So either it was off, Ezra was ignoring it or it was broken. No one wanted to admit it but the cynical girl has grown on them and to be lost on Tatooine of all places…now about four hours later she shows up with a couple thugs chasing her. Kanan immediately raced out after hearing a young girl's scream along with the force yelling at him to hurry up. Relief flooded him even with her banged up state. "What took you so long?" He demanded to know.

Ezra immediately felt defensive. "I'm sorry, I wasn't suicidal to go against the bloody crowd." She said in annoyance. "Ran into someone who was also lost so we walked back to his speeder." Kanan's mind screeched to a halt when he heard the word  _he._ He didn't hear the rest of Ezra's babbling until he felt big blue eyes staring at him. "It wasn't my fault!" She immediately declared from seeing the looks. "Let's get back to the ship so you can get cleaned up and we'll see about repairing those pants of yours." Hera said. Ezra just nodded and followed. Zeb slowed his pace so he walked nearly side by side with Ezra. "You had everyone worried kid." He said lowly. Ezra just nodded.

"I didn't know." She said equally low. She honestly didn't think she mattered so much that they'd be worried about her enough to look for hours. They continued to walk back to the  _Ghost_ in silence.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Ezra took the needle and thread, grumbling why the hole has to be so small. With her pants in her lap and wearing a shirt and old ratty pants, Ezra looked on at the planet that they'll be taking off from. It was pretty dark now and Hera decided that they'll leave first thing in the morning to not arouse suspicion. Ezra just wanted to fix her clothes and rest her ankle. It should be fine in the morning as long as she doesn't push it for the next day or so. The sewing was mind numbing enough while needing her full concentration at the same time as she's not good at this sort of thing. Tongue poking out, Ezra sewed the tear back up.

Kanan watched from the door as Ezra's full concentration was solely on the sewing which he found slightly amusing. A triumphant cry jolted him from his thoughts as Ezra held up the pants. Jagged stitches closed the tear. A person can easily tell that someone with no skill did this, but Kanan made no move to mention this. Instead he decided to hold off on the lecture for the night as everyone's exhaustion was apparent.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Ezra looked back on the planet, a niggling feeling in her mind that she'll see it again. For good or ill she doesn't know. Maybe she'll see this Luke again.  _'That will be nice,'_ She thought to herself. Clutching her credits, she stuffed it in where her datapads and ration bars hid in the panel beside her head. Ezra's hand itched for  _it_ and just wanted to hold it. "Maybe I'll grab it when we're back on Lothal." She whispered to herself. Getting up to grab something to eat, Chopper nearly knocked into her before wheeling around her, determined to get somewhere. Ezra just watched him leave before continuing to her breakfast as Hera guided them off the planet. She idly wondered about Luke and his moisture farm and that he's probably up by now. Grabbing something to eat, Ezra walked around in her black leather pants and white shirt, not wanting to wear her jump suit right now while holding her comm, about to take it apart to see what else is wrong with it. They weren't leaving the ship so she left it off. She mentally grimanced when Kanan came in, bracing herself for the lecture that is surely to come.

Kanan looked at Ezra who tensed up at him and glanced down to her comm.  _'That explains a few things.'_ He thought. He sat down across from Ezra who tensed even further and looked like she was ready to run. "This was one of the bigger riots I've seen." Kanan started. Ezra looked at him in confusion. "Going against the crowd. I've seen what happens to people who do try." Ezra gave a cautious look. "So…you're not going to lecture?" She hesitated on the last word. What she was going to say, Kanan doesn't know. "I can now see that your comm is broken."

"Need one for my wrist." She muttered. Kanan continued, "but that still doesn't explain why you were missing for six hours."

"That's how long I was gone for?" He heard a bit of surprise in her voice. Kanan nodded. Ezra sat back. "I ran into a farm boy who was separated from his family in the riot and since I was pretty much lost as well and the riot was allowing other unsavoury people do business, I decided to get out of the area. It seemed like a good idea at the time to help find his family." Kanan gave her a scrutinizing look. "And now?" Ezra just shrugged. "Still a good idea." Kanan had a weary look on his face at the answer. Her behaviour doesn't make any sense at all. Not from what he knows of street living. "You know that actions have consequences." Ezra's face darkened. "Trust me Kanan, I know  _exactly_ that. If that's all?" Kanan nodded and Ezra got up and left. Kanan sighed while rubbing his eyes. What will it take to get her to open up?

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Ezra was getting antsy and jumpy. She needed to go for a run or have some quiet time to herself. But Lothal won't be there to help right now. Being stuck in space does have downsides. The two creeps from Tatooine opened up a small can of worms that Ezra did  _not_ want to think about right now. "Ezra." Ezra looked up and saw Kanan standing in front of her, staring down at her. "Everything alright?"

"It's fine." She said stiffly. Kanan gave a soft scoff. "You're bouncing on your feet right now." Ezra had to consciously stop but it just proved Kanan's point. "It feels like I'm confined to my tower." She whined. Kanan cocked an eyebrow. "Come on, let's go meditate and see if that helps." He would rather suffer meditation with an unruly Ezra than listen to hollering that will be guaranteed to happen soon. Ezra just nodded, knowing that it'll kill time, but at the same time it will be hard to keep still.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

Hera sighed as she readied herself before the ship dropped from hyperspace.  _'Just can't go anywhere with the kids.'_ She thought fondly. Leaning back in her seat, Hera drummed her fingers on the armrest waiting. "How much longer in hyperspace?" Kanan asked. Hera looked behind her. "Not too much longer, why?" Kanan had a slightly pained look on his face. "Ezra?"

"She needs to burn some energy. I feel her emotions and how high strung she's getting."

"Meditation?" Hera suggested. Kanan shook his head. "Worked for about twenty minutes but that's it."

"Well it won't be too much longer, then we can land the ship and Ezra can go run around." Kanan said nothing and watched as space came back into view as the ship dropped from hyperspace. "We can always go to the capital."

"Sounds fine." Hera said distractedly. The two sat in silence until Hera directed her ship towards the outskirts of the Capital. Ezra came bounding in. "Don't go too far." Hera said in anticipation to her question. Ezra beamed and raced off the ship, Kanan's weary gaze following her.

_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_

"Come on kid, what's the rush?"

"Too jumpy right now." Ezra replied to Zeb as she all but bounced out of the ship. Zeb rolled his eyes and shook his head but followed her anyway. Chopper and Sabine followed at a slower and steadier pace. Ezra couldn't help but grin, taking in the vast plains. She just hopes that this peace she's feeling at that moments lasts for at least the day, that's all she asks. Taking in the fresh air, Ezra gave a small, genuine smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the very, very, very long wait. Ended up cutting a paragraph so I could segway into the next chapter which is why it's shorter than usual.


End file.
